


Burning Ice

by Currently_Obsessed



Series: Burning Ice [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Allura is confused over humans, Angst, Blow Jobs, Cussing, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Keith, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Keith gets turned into a girl, Langst, Light Angst, Lotor is a dick too, M/M, Male Lance, Male Pronouns for Keith (Voltron), Mates, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of past sex slavery, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Torture, Pidge | Katie Holt Swears Like a Sailor, Prince Lotor in Later Chapters, Slow Burn, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Torture, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Violence, Zarkons a bigger dick than usual, everybody cusses, klance, like seriously, lots of cussing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-10-15 00:16:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 40,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10546780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Currently_Obsessed/pseuds/Currently_Obsessed
Summary: The Druids find a way to remove a males Y Chromosome in an attempt to weaken their enemies. Only the one they perform the alteration to does not become weak like they had thought.No, he may be a short, confused girl, but he is not weak. Far from it.And. He. Is. Pissed.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zarkon and Haggar look on towards her latest experiment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be short since it's just the prologue.

Prologue

The poor man that the Druids had chained to the wall was screaming in immense pain. He was not the one they truly wanted to perform this on, but they needed to be sure it worked. Purple electricity filled the air and attacked the man's body.

Haggar sat next to her Emperor and watched from under her cloak in amusement as the man's features became smaller, more delicate.

His hair lengthened. His waist thinner, more prominent. His face softer and rounder. Even his screams became higher and higher pitched. More towards soprano than baritone. He grew a small pair of breasts and his clothes became baggy and started to fall off his now petite body.

The electricity finally ceased and the room was quiet besides the slaves heavy breathing.

The slaves pants slipped off his lower body, revealing long, slender legs, wide hips and dainty feet. His breathing was softer now. His head fell forwards and his long hair shielded his eyes. "Please, no more," He- She begged.

"Excellent work, Haggar," The deep voice of Zarkon rang out. The Druids smiled in pride. She rose and crossed the room in a puff of black smoke.

"I told you it would work," She cackled.

She looked over her shoulder and sent the Emperor a smirk that closely resembled a snarl. 

"I never doubted you. Now, time to decide which of the Paladins to use it on. We could use it on the Champion that slipped through our fingers," He said.

"Like he'd let himself become captured yet again," Haggar argued. Zarkon sighed.

"The blue then?" He suggested. "He might be a viable option."

Haggar snorted as she practically floated back to her previous spot. "Already questioning his abilities as a Paladin, he is already weak," She said. 

"The Green?"

'That's quiznaking Girl,' She wanted to scream.

"No, the Red one," She said. "He is fast and one of the best hand to hand combat fighters there. Besides the Champion, that is. He would be the perfect target for our little... experiments," She explained, adding a cruel smile at the end.

"Perfect. Set a course for Voltron. We are getting our Paladin. And once he is too weak to fight, we'll take control of the Lions."

"Yes, sire," She said. 

A Droid entered the room to drag away the now Slave girl as Haggar adjusted the course of their main fleet to the energy signal of the Castle of Lions. 

Zarkon just looked out into space as he thought that he finally had the Paladins right where he wanted them. He knew there was nowhere they could hide in this universe that he could not find them.

That annoying Altean girl should have just remained asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS FOR READING! FEEL FREE TO DRAW FAN ART! LEAVE KUDOS AND COMMENTS!


	2. Its All Fun and Games Until a Robot Loses Its Arm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts off with a stupid competition but ends in disaster.

Chapter 1

The Lions of Voltron were going through their daily training exercises with their respective Paladins. We were just doing some speed, agility, shooting and defensive training. But of course, Lance had to make it about me and him. Again.

Shiro tried to get us to calm down and return our lions to the Castle to form Voltron, but we were already too deep into this petty game.

 _'Ah, come on, you don't me to lose to Keith, do you Shiro?'_ Lance taunted. 

"You could lose to a pet rock with how slow you are, Cargo Pilot," If he can call me out for having a mullet, and getting kicked out of the Garrison, than I can taunt him for being a cargo pilot. I heard his gasp of exasperation through our coms.

 _'At least I don't have a mullet!'_  He yelled as his face appeared on my screen. I just measly smirked as I willed Red to go faster.

"At least I can actually get a girl!" And with that his reddening face disappeared from screen as I scanned the dessert Terran for any signs of danger, Blue, or anything else. It was just a wide open Plateau filled with a few alien cacti and high rising rocks that were similar to the Devils Mountain in Wyoming. It even had the lines that looked clawed into its sides. 

The orange-ish sand simmered in the noon day heat. It reminded me of the dessert where I lived in that run down shack.

As I neared the rock formation me and Lance were racing to, I saw a streak of Blue fly past me.

"Come on girl, give it everything we got!" I urged Red. She purred in my head. It was deep and resonating, unlike a cats that where softer and barely made the cat vibrate.

She moved faster than anything I have ever had on Earth. Neither my motorcycle nor my Hover bike easy this fast, and God was the speed addicting. I only wish I could feel the wind in my hair and I flew past the Blue Lion and landed on the sheer cliff of the mountain. The top was relatively flat and the sides straight down. 

 _'Ah, come on! We nearly beat you!'_ Lance complained in a whine. I smirked. 

"Face it Lance, Red is faster than Blue," I said. 

I heard the others sigh.

 _'Stop flirting you two!'_ Pidge said.

Hunk pretended to puke. Or he actually did. I never knew with his motion sickness. 

"You're so gross, Pidge! Like I'd ever be attracted to someone who's ego is probably bigger than his dick," I said.

 _'Hey!'_  Lance whined.

Pidge laughed. I heard Shiro sigh again and Hunk was telling me to stop making fun of Lance. Honestly, I was kind of jealous of how close Hunk and Lance were. Not that I want to be that close to Lance, I just wish that I was that close to someone. I wasn't even that close to Shiro before he went on the Kerberos mission.

 _'Just get back to the Castle you two and we'll form Voltron another time,'_ Shiro said, but thee was only fake malice to his tone. I could hear his smile in his words. I could only imagine he was trying to hold back laughter as we all flew back to the Castle. 

 _'Last one to the Castle is a rotten egg!'_ Lance said. I sighed and flew past him.  _'Hey, you cheated!'_ Lance accused.

"Oh, sorry, I-I can't he- ar-" I pretended my coms stopped working as I neared the Castle. I landed in my lions dock and unlocked buckled. 

"I win," I said to myself as I took of my helmet. I walked out of Red and thanked her for todays races. She purred her returning thanks and shut down for a nap. I smiled to hear as I made my way to the control room. Allura was at the helm with both hands on the controls. 

"Hello Keith," She greeted. "The other Paladins with you?" 

"On their way back," I said. She nodded. Her hair was tied up and she wore her own armor. It was similar to the Paladins armor, only pink and white. And no jet pack. I knew that first hand when we tried to see if Zarkon was tracking us.

And our pod exploded.

And our relationship as friends have been strained since she found out I was part Galra. 

The doors opened with a faint hiss and I instantly heard Lance complaining that I cheated to make it back to the Castle before him. Shiro walked up and instantly briefed the princess of out training for today. Hunk and Pidge groaned at Lance's complaints and sat in their respective seats on the left side of the room.

Lance scowled crossed to room towards me. He folded his arms. "Cheater! You took off before I said go!" He said, bending slightly to be eye level with me. I hated being 5'10 when he was 6'2.

"You never said I couldn't go though, you just said the last one there was a rotten age, I thought that meant go," I said, glaring at him. "Now get out of my face, Cargo Pilot," I said monotonously. He scoffed.

"No, because I know you cheated!" He said. 

"Why would the loser be a rotten egg? And what is an egg anyway?" Allura asked. Shiro quietly explained it to her, but I didn't hear what he exactly said.

"I didn't cheat, Lance, now leave me alone!" I turned and went to my seat. He scoffed again and went to his that was behind mine. I felt his eyes bore into the back of my head, but I ignored it.

Shiro sighed. "Princess, is there anything about Zarkon yet? I can't keep up this training for long, everyone hear is tense and need to do something. This planet isn't cutting it," He said. "It's not Arus, so we don't know if it's inhabited or not. It could be dangerous. Or controlled by Galra." The Princess sighed.

"Not really, the Galra have been quiet. And that's never good. They might be creating another RoBeast for all we know! So we need to be vigilant," She said. 

We all nodded. So far we've have to face at least three of their RoBeast's. One that was the old Champion before Shiro. That iguana looking thing with the squid like arms that shot lasers, and the one that we faced that Ulaz literally imploded.

It was like Allura jinxed us. As soon as she was done speaking, the alarm blared and the red emergency lights started blinking. We all shot up in our seats. Allura brought up the screen and it showed one of Zarkon's fleets making its way towards us.

"Is Zarkon still tracking the black lion!?" Lance demanded to know.

"It's possible. I don't know how music has stronger our bond has become since I saw his home planet destroyed," Shiro said. 

"Get to your lions Paladins, we need Voltron! Coran and I will cover with cover fire and prepare to wormhole out if it becomes too much to handle!" Allura shouted over the alarm as she pulled up her touch screen command controls.she started to type away as the rest of us ran to our lions.

* * *

This battle was different than the others we've had. It seemed like it was focused on me, and when I mentioned it, the others didn't agree with me. But I knew deep down that they were.

I out maneuvered the lasers as I got my jaw blade into the haul of the ship. Explosions followed the line that I cut into it. _'Good job Keith,'_ Shiro praised. I smirked as I clawed at the blasters on the side. 

"Hunk, take out that ion canon!" I said as I flew back away from the next round of explosions. The ion canon started to charge up as it aimed towards the Castle of Lions. 

 _'Roger that!'_ He said as the yellow lion ducked it's head and rimmed the canon. It got knocked out of alignment as it fired the purple laser, missing the Castle completely.  _'Alright!'_ He cheered. I smirked. 

 _'Lance, freeze the canon before Hunk rams it again. Maybe it can detach it from the ship entirely,'_ Shiro said. The Blue Lion flew next to the Yellow and opened it jaw. Ice shot out and froze the ion canon. The yellow back up a few yards and rammed it again. It shattered the ice, but only partially detached it.

It wasn't in working order so that was good for now. I shot fire at it, fusing it like that so they couldn't fix it.  _'Nice thinking Keith,'_ Hunk said. 

 _'Yeah, now they can't do anything to repair the wires because they're all fused to the ship!'_ Pidge said. I felt a surge of pride fill me, but before I could do anything, my lion was moving on its own. I tried to do something but it wasn't working.

"Uh, guys, somethings wrong!" I said. I started to get closer to the Galra fleet.

 _'Dear God! You were right! They were focused on you!'_ Pidge screamed. Vines shot out of her lion and wrapped around Red. It slowed down a little, but eventually the vines broke and I lurched forward in my seat as the lion moved faster.

Tiny fighter pilots slowed the others down and drew their attention away from me. I was drawn into the ships main port and instantly the lion shut off completely. I grabbed my Bayard and started to exit my lion. Druids, droids and Galra were already surrounding me. 

A druid appeared in front of me before I could even turn my Bayard into its sword form. Her hand was on my forhead and the world turned, twisted and tilted. My vision turned fuzzy and started to blacken around the edges.

"Sleep, young Paladin, you'll need your strength later," Her nasally voice whispered before everything went black.


	3. Haggar's Experiment Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is chained up, Haggar performs her experiment, Keith is a girl, Keith goes home.

Chapter 2:

I screamed loudly as it felt like every nerve in my body was on fire. The electricity smelled of burnt flesh and singed hair. The Druids who looked on were whispering at my expense. I was chained to the wall with my Paladin removed and replaced with similar garb that Shiro wore when he crashed on Earth.

I threw back my head as another gut-renching scream forced it's way up my throat. My whole body hurt. It felt like all my bones were breaking and moving. Skin was shrinking, I turned my head to look at my hand since I left the electricity hit it directly. It was different now. The fingers shorter and thinner, wrist dantier, even my arm looked thinner.

I looked on with shock. But I didn't have time to really question it as the pain became blinding. I saw only white as emmence pain shook my whole being. My screams seemed higher pitched and burned my throat. It felt like it was literally getting shredded. 

This went on for a few more minutes. Finally the purple electricity died down and I was hanging there panting, my head fell forwards. It felt both heavier and lighter somehow. Heavier because my hair was longer. Lighter because I was dizzy and felt like passing out again.

"You bitch," I seethed. My voice was higher pitched. It sounded almost like Pidge's. Still distinctly mine, just... feminine.

"Take her to the cyropods," A deep voice called out. I looked up through my longer hair to see him. Zarkon. Anger boiled beneath my skin. I practically growled. "Then send her back to the others."

"And the lion?" The Druid asked. 

"I care not of the Red Lion, it's the black I control. The red is useless to me until I get the rest. But if we get the black first," His laughter filled the empty air.

"You'd release one of the lions!?" She sounded appalling by the idea.

 "You dare question me, Haggar?" He asked anger evident in his voice. The Druid, Haggar I realized, looked like she was snarling under her hood. Though I didn't see her eyes, I saw her mouth twist and her nose scrunch up in anger.

I felt her anger aimed towards the Emperor. Then the force of their words hit me. He called me a _her_.

He was also releasing me and Red. Her presence was still missing from the back of my head. Normally when she was just shut down for the night, her presence still there.

I'd never felt so alone in my head since before I met her.

"You bastards turned me into a damn girl!" I shouted lifted my head fully, my new longer bangs hanging in front one of my eyes. Zarkon laughed. As a Droid stepped forward to release me from my chains, my clothing started to fall off my body. Mainly, my pants that I had to clutch to stop from falling off completely.  

"You dick head! Change me back!" I screamed, struggling against the Droid. I elbowed it, but it didn't do much like it used to. I reached for my Bayard to find it gone. 

"Your Bayard is in your Lion," A voice said from behind me as I was physically dragged out of the room. I turned and saw a Galra man. He was taller than the Droid by about an inch, so about a foot and a half taller than me. Maybe more. 

"Release her, I'll escort her from here. I doubt she'd be able to fight me off if she were to try anything," He said to the Droid. He held a blade that looked like the same material as mine, but I did not see the Mark that mine had, but it might be hidden like mine. 

The Droid released me, and since I was still weak from that... experiment, I collapsed. The Galra caught me as the Droid walked away.

"Come quick, I assume your ship has Cryopods?" I nodded as I leaned heavily on him. Not that I wanted too. "I'm commander Thace," He said before walking around a corner. There was nothing down this short hall except a door.

"Keith," I said. I looked behind us for anyone before dropping my voice. "That blade? It's nice," I said with a knowing look. "Looks kind of like mine. I even met another Galra that had one similar. I think his name was Ulaz." He stopped in his tracks. 

"How do you know Ulaz?" He demanded in a tight whispered voice. I smirked.

"I think you know exactly how I know him," I said, widening my smirk and crossing my arms. I was a bit surprised that I was able to stand this long on legs that felt like jello. 

Then he smirked back. "Good to know. Also you're welcome for lowering the shield and allowing you to escape," He said into my ear. He straightened with a gentle smile. "Now through that door you'll find your lion, now go," He said opening the door. "The Blade of Marmora is with you."

* * *

The door hissed closed behind me. I jumped slightly, finding myself clutching my hands to my chest, when two lights appeared ahead of me. But it was just Red lighting the way for me. 

I sighed a breathe of relief and wobbled towards her, adjusting my clothes to not fall to the ground as I did so.

"Hey, Red. It's me, your Paladin," I felt silly talking to her like she didn't recognize me. She lowered her partical barrier and head. She opened her jaw and let me in. "It's good that your back online, " I said. I wondered why she offline when I was getting the... change. I didn't exactly hear her response to the question, but I knew what she wanted to say. 

She didn't want to feel her Paladinin pain. She wanted to comfort me. She couldn't do anything to help anyway and didn't want to make it worse.

"It's okay, Red," I said. "I understand, girl."

Her purr resonated in my mind.

I smiled.

I walked cockpit. My Bayard and armor were strewn on the floor.

I sat in my chair. It didn't lurch forward like it normally did in an emergency. It moved gently. Red knew I was in a lot of pain and could barely walk as it was. She urged me to sleep, but I couldn't, not while still in a Galra ship.

The bay doors opened and I knew that it was Thace's work. Red took off and towards home. She could instantly feel the way home. I didn't know how, nor did I ask. I buckled in before started to finally drift off, letting her fly.

* * *

The door hissed opened and a line of light blinded me. I squinted and raised my hand to block it. I groaned at the movement. I was still in a lot of pain. Partially because of the change, partially because of how I somehow ended up curled up in my seat.

A silhouette entered the cockpit of my lion.

"Who are you?" I heard Shiro's voice ask.

"Shiro?" I asked. I started to stand, but ended up collapsing. Shiro rushed forward and helped me up. 

"It's okay, miss. We'll get you to a Cryopod and ask questions later," He said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling my other arm around his shoulder. My pants were falling off again, but I didn't have the strength to hold them anymore.

"W-wait," But I was too far gone again, my eye sight failing me and leaving me unconscious yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is the last time that Keith will pass out to end a chapter for a while at least.


	4. Keith the Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other Paladins find out that Keith is the girl that Shiro literally dragged out of the Red Lion. Insults and questions fly.

Chapter 3:

Cold.

So cold.

And faint voices.

Why were there voices in the void?

Dad? Are you there? Is mom with you? Will I finally meet her?

I heard hissing again, and felt like I was falling forward. Arms caught me. Thin, lanky arms.

Lance?

I started to open my eyes. Too bright.

"Well, hello, pretty lady," Lance practically purred. "The names Lance, and you are?" He asked. I glared at him.

"Lance, it's me Keith," I said through chattering teeth. Lance's dark eyebrows no knitted together as he continued to hold me up in a sitting position. I looked around and the others were looking confused as Lance.

I tried to stand, but struggled. Whatever they did to me to turn me into a girl left me feeling like Ariel after she got her legs. Lance helped me. I looked down at my new body to find I was still wearing the slave garb. I shuddered at the thought of someone changing me.

"Um, sorry to tell you this, but Keith is not a girl. And even if he was, I doubt he'd be this attractive this attractive," Lance said. 

"You sure about that," I stood on my tip toes since I was now even shorter than him and whispered in his ear, "Cargo Pilot."

He jumped away from me, letting me go. I fell again. "Fuck you, Lance! You dropped me!?" I accused.

"Yeah that's Keith," Shiro said, recovering the fastest.

Hunk recovered next. "H-How is that possible? Tell me how this is possible! Keith how is it possible your a girl now?" He babbled like normal.

Lance just stared at me, red in the face, looking embarrassed. He flirted with me. I smirked at him. That will teach him. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'd have to run some tests, but it appears that whatever they did, aside from the obvious fact that they turned you female, that they might have found a way to target and remove the one thing that makes a man male. The Y-Chromosome sex cell," Pidge said pushing up her glasses. "And you can be a girl with only one sex cell, but if they managed to replace the Y with another X, we wouldn't know unless we did a blood test, which we don't have." 

I sighed. "It doesn't matter how they did it, we just need to reverse ithe. And fast, because I hate being this small," I said, pulling up my pants to keep them on my waist. "Also, I need new clothes. Pidge?" She groaned.

"I'll be right back," She said, leaving the room. I called out my thanks. I held only my pants and wobbled over to Shiro. Though I was no longer in pain, the Cryopods didn't replenish energy like sleeping does.

"Thanks for carrying me here, Shiro," I said, craning my neck to look up at him. He smiled.

"It was nothing, Keith, you'd have done the same. You have done the same," He said. And I have; when he crashed on Earth. 

Allura walked up to us anfpd gently hugged me. "It's good to know that you're safe, Keith," She said. I nodded and wrapped only one arm around her. She stood a good 9 inches above me now. I silently wondered how tall I was. 

Pidge came back moments later, carrying a bundle of clothes. She handed them to me and I noticed I was about the same height as her. I nodded and gave her a small smile. I held the clothes in one arm and held up my pants in the other. "I'm going to go take a shower. I feel gross." I tried not to blush as I ducked out of the room at to the showers.

* * *

I let the hot water hit my back as I rested my forehead on the tiles in front of me. I let the water massage my shoulder muscles. My long hair clung to my wet skin. I felt tears sting my eyes. 

"UGH!" I said as I pushed my palms into my eyes to stop them from crying. I hated this. I hated feeling small and weak and... useless. I wanted to hit someone. I wanted to kill Zarkon more than usual. It was bad enough that he haunted my dreams as it was.

Who knows how much worse it's going to get now that this happened to me?

I stood there for a moment longer before grabbing the loofah. I put some soap on it at scrubbed at my skin. It felt like it was still buzzing with electricity. I wanted to rid myself of any traces of what they did to me. I scrubbed until my body was red and raw.

I found myself crying and screaming and scrubbing harder. 

I screamed loudly and a hand shot out and grabbed the loofah from my hand. "Enough, Keith," A soothing voice said. I didn't even try and hide my naked form from Shiro. 

I refused to look up at him as tears flowed down my cheeks, mixing with the shower water. "I knew you weren't handling this as well as you were trying to show us out there," He said calmly.

"Well, how can I? Zarkon changed the very base of who I am. On a molecular scale," I whispered. He sighed.

I felt his fleshy hand being placed on my small shoulder. "Being a girl doesn't change who you are. Finding out you were Galra didn't change you, and neither should this," He told me. "But I can understand how you could react this way." 

I pushed my palms into my eyes again. I didn't want to sob in front of him. Anyone really. "Get dressed and head to your room. I'll brief the others and let them now your going to take a little break." I nodded and shut of the cooling water.

Shiro left me standing there naked and cold. I slide to the floor and sobbed finally.

* * *

I laid curled up in a ball on my bed in Pidge's clothing. I wore my red jacket that was now too big for me over her green and off white shirt. It swallowed my hands.

I still sniffed every once in a while from crying in the shower room. 

I didn't want to move for a while. Like at least a month. But of course, some one knocked on my door. "Go away!" I yelled.

"It's me," Lance's voice said through the door. I groaned. 

 "I don't care!" I yelled. "Go. Away!"

But he didn't. The door hissed open and he walked in. I shot up and threw my pillow at his head.

"What the hell did I say!?" I yelled, crossing my arms glaring up at him. Was he always so tall? Yeah, I was just shorter.

"We need to talk. Now."


	5. Arguments Everywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance seem to argue wherever they are.

Chapter 4:

"We need to talk," Lance said, standing in front of me, standing a good near foot above me.

"No, we don't," I said, crossing my arms, glaring up at him. 

He sighed. "Don't be stubborn, Keith," He glared right back. "I wanted to apologize for flirting with you since I didn't know it was you," He said, bending down a little. I laughed.

"So, Shiro sent you," I accused. "'Cause I know you'd never apologize to me on your own accord." He scoffs.

He poked my chest and said, "What? You don't think I can be nice to you, Mullet head?" I rolled my eyes.

Did he not just hear himself? Of course I don't think he can be nice to me. To the others, sure, but not to me. It really sort of bothered me. 

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a mullet anymore," I said. He squinted at me, but didn't reply. "Oh, the Great Lance is now silent!" I threw my head and hands into the air. "It's a fucking miracle!" He growled and pushed me up against the wall. 

"You know, I'm getting real tired of your sarcastic shit, Keith!" He seethed. I smirked up at him.

"Stooping to hitting a girl? You're truly a lowlife, Lance," I taunted. Maybe I wanted him to hit me, but I knew deep down I shouldn't have been provoking him. He huffed and hit the wall by my head and backed off. 

"I just came to apologize, but clearly you don't want it. Maybe it made you feel good about yourself for once, huh? I bet a girl never once hit on you when you were on Earth. Or maybe you want me to hit on you. Maybe you like me, but are too chicken to admit it to yourself."

It was my turn to huff.

"I think your confusing me with you again. You're the one who made this stupid rivalry," I reminded him. Sure it was me who started this fight, but I didn't point that out. Nor did he.

"Whatever, Keith. I shouldn't have hit on you, but you didn't need to be a bitch when I came to say sorry, so it's just whatever," He said, turning and walking out. Angry tears filled my eyes. Stupid girl emotions. Or was it the estrogen that now coursed through my body that was messing with my emotions, sharpening them?

Whatever it was, I hated the tears as they flowed hotly down my cheeks.

I screamed though my clenched teeth and punched the wall were Lance did. It was high pitched and hurt my ears. I needed to blow off some steam. I grabbed my Bayard and headed to the training room with tears still staining my cheeks.

* * *

I landed on my ass yet again. The training droid was stronger than I remembered. Or maybe I was weaker. Or was unfocused due to these strengthened emotions that my female body had. 

Whatever it was, I wasn't going to let it slow me down. I needed to get better. 

I grunted and stood up, grabbing my discarded sword. I rushed the robot and swung diagonally from the droids ear in a Wrath blow. I smirked when the Droid disappeared from before me. "Start training sequence 5. 2!" I called out to the computerized room. 

2 level five Droids fell from the ceiling and landed on their feet. They held swords in their right hand. The one on the left rushed me. He swung a overhead thrashed that I countered with a circle parry. I went for a middle blow followed by a thrust.

The Droid on the right flanked me to the right as the Droid parried my lung. I swung around and met the second blade with mine. The load clank of metal on metal filled my ears. I kicked the Droid away as I thrust my sword on the first. 

But before I knew it, two lasers shot both of my Droids. "What the hell!?" I nearly screeched. I heard a sigh from behind me. 

I turned and saw Lance. "Got pissed and couldn't fight me? Was that it? Shiro told you to take it easy today. You shouldn't be training after going through that you did," He said casually with his blaster lowered at his side. It shrank down to its regular form and he set it aside. 

I growled, but it sounded close to a shreak. "Why do you care!?" I demanded. 

"Because your a member of our team, I may not like you as a person because, let's face it, you suck, but we need you to save the Universe, so yeah, I care about your health," He said in an obvious Lance fashion.

I don't remember walking up to him, I don't even remember making a fist. I just remember his head snapping to the left and him losing his equilibrium and falling, landing on his elbow and knee. This was the first time that our fights actually became physical,  but I didn't care. He was being a bigger dick than normal.

Hot, angry tears filled my eyes as I huffed above a shocked Lance. The thing I hated most about being a girl was that now when I got angry, tears filled my eyes.

I didn't say anything as I walked away. I grabbed my towel and shut down the simulation. I walked out of the training room, leaving Lance in silence.

After taking another shower, I headed to dinner. Everyone, including Lance with a clearly swollen cheek, we're already eating. I was glad that I figured out how to wrap my hair up in a towel. Sure I only used knowledge of how to do it from movies, but still.

I noticed no one even bothered to get me a bowl of the green food goo that we were being forced to eat. It wasn't much, but it had the nutrients we needed. 

I sighed and went to the cabinet we kept the bowls in. I had to reach up on my toes to reach the handles. I opened the door and saw they were on the top shelf.

Strange, normally they were on the first so Pidge could reach them.

I sighed.

Lance.

"Something wrong?" I could hear the smugness in him voice. I smirked. Two can play at this game. I might just hide his face mask later.

"Nope, nothings wrong," I said before placing my hands on the counters and hoisted myself up. I hooked my left knee up first and lifted my whole weight, bringing the other up to keep me stable.

"Is that really necessary Keith?" Shiro asked with a sigh. "There are literally 5 people who can reach them first you," He said. I held onto the bottom of the cabinet as I looked over my shoulder at him.

"Hey, Lance is being a dick and I wanted to prove to him I can do this on my own," Shiro face palmed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Pidge asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I could have helped you!" Hunk said with a smile. I smiled at him.

"I know, but I didn't want to show Lance that I couldn't play his fucking game," I glared at the back of his head. I noticed part of his hair curled slightly. 

Does... does he straightened his hair? I smirked.

Screw the face mask, I'm going for his straightener, I thought as I turned back to the cabinets. This was kind of fun, actually, despite the fighting.

Was this childish? Yes. Did I start it? Probably. Was I going to stop first? Nope. Bonding be screwed.

I grabbed my bowl finally and set it aside as I hopped down. I had always liked shorter girls, thought they were adorable, and now I was one. I tried to hide a small smile at the thought of someone looking down at me, not with pity for being turned into a short girl, but with admiration at how adorable short girls were. 

My first girlfriend was about 5'1 and she was adorable. The reason we broke it off was because I wasn't exactly a touchy-feely kind of guy, but she wanted me to be.

I went to the dispenser hose we got the goo from and filled my bowl before sitting next to Shiro instead of Lance like I normally do. Shiro put his hand on my head. An act that gets hadn't down since we were younger, living under the same roof.

I tried not to blush. Shiro was like an older brother to me, mostly because we were both adopted by the same family. They lived in Texas. His name was Alex, his wife was Stacie. She passed away a month after the adoptions finalized. Car accident.

And after Shiro moved out, I moved with him. Alex, who I had come to call my father, didn't even take my knife since it was the only thing I had from my old life that I don't even remember. But apparently he knew who my mother was. She was a good friend of his. 

Now I'm not entirely sure who my Galra parent is. Or if they were just part Galra. 

No one said anything about Shiro's sign of affection towards me. But Lance glared at me. I knew he looked up to him, I knew Shiro was his hero. He looked jealous. I smirked to myself. He was jealous of me for being close to Shiro. 

When I looked back up, he wasn't glaring at me, but at... Shiro? That's weird.

"Dude stop petting him! He's a girl now, not a damn dog!" He yelled. But I heard him mumble, "But he's sure acting like a bitch," afterwards.

I stood up, pushing my chair out and knocking it over in the process. "What's your fucking problem with me! Ever since I woke up, you've been nothing but a dick! Sure I accused Shiro of sending you over to apologize for flirting with me, but you blew up in my face! You don't need to be an ass whenever you see me! Placing the bowls in the top shelf just to fuck with me! Fuck you!" I said. He looked at me with something close to apologetic eyes.

"So sorry that Shiro is my adopted brother, asshole!" I said before storming off, leaving my meal practically untouched. 

"Keith!" Shiro called out. I ignored him and headed to my room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this head canon that Keith knows the different sword fighting techniques and I found an entire website about them and if you don't know what they look like or how they are used, Google is a great friend. 
> 
> I'm not weird, CIA, I'm just a writer! I swear!


	6. Shiro's Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro have a brotherly heart to heart.

Chapter 5:

I held Lance's hair straightener in my left had. I had grabbed it on the way to my room after the shit storm at dinner. It had taken a while to find, but I managed. It didn't look exactly like one in Earth but close enough that I knew what it was. 

I smirked at the thoughts of him freaking out tomorrow morning about not being able to straighten his hair.

I wondered how he'd look with curly or wavy hair. And it's honestly freaked me out. I shouldn't be able to imagine it so clearly. But I did. It would frame his olive skinned face so perfectly. His blue eyes would stand out more than they do.

I groaned and shook the image out of my head. I didn't find him attractive. Nope, all the nopes. 

I sat the straightener aside and rolled onto my stomach, burying my face in my pillow. I heard soft knocking on my door. "Keith, it's me," Shiro's familiar voice called through the door. I sighed and hugged my pillow to my chest and sat up. It felt weird to hug it with boobs in the way.

"It's open," I answered. The door hissed open and Shiro stepped in. I didn't look at him. I just scooted over on the bed and pulled my legs up to meet the pillow. He sat next to me. He sighed and took one of my hands in both of his, angling his body to face me. I buried the bottom half of face in the pillow.

"Keith, I know that this is an awkward and strange situation, but was it really necessary to yell at Lance?" He started. And there goes my damn eyes filling up with hot tears again. I blinked rapidly to force them away.

"No, but he hasn't even considerate of my feelings. He's been a dick. And I hate it! I hate that I can't control this damn new body!" I said, wanting nothing more than to curl into his chest like I used to when I was 7.

He just remained calm and smiled down to me. "I know, and I already spoke with him. He will try and ease up on you. Now, I can't guarantee that he will stop entirely, but he'll try and be nicer to you," He said. I nodded. I'll believe it when I see it, but I didn't say that. 

"Hey Shiro?" I asked. He hummed. "I need advice," I said, looking up at him. He smiled his big brother smile that I haven't seen since before he left for Kerberos. 

"Anything, Keith, you're still my baby brother, even if you are a girl," He said simply. 

I hesitated. "First, do... do you think that I actually like Lance? Like,  _like_ like him?" God, this was awkward. Kill me now. Why would I even ask that? I've never even thought about that before Lance said something about it earlier when he'd come to apologize. 

He chuckled lightly. "I cannot tell you who your heart holds, because that is for it to decide, but I can give you advice for if you do," He said. I nodded. 

"And I can try and give you advice for handling your new form. And anything else if you need," He said. I'm glad he knows me better than I know myself. I smiled at him.

"Now close your eyes," I looked at him confused. "Now, Keith." I swallowed and nodded. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. "There is one person who takes up your mind, heart and soul. Now I didn't say anything name but they came to mind, didn't they?" A face appeared in my mind, but I didn't have time to really see it before it faded.

"It was there but gone before I could really see it," I whispered. He chuckled.

"That's okay. Now imagine this person you can't really imagine you'd still have these feelings for in any situation. Whether you remained in the Garrison, whether you two went to another school altogether, whether you were both Galra in Zarkon's army," Now the last one was a stretch but I understood his point. "You'd still have these feelings."

"Shiro? What this have to do with advice?" I asked, peeking up at him.

"Eyes closed!" I clenched my eyes closed. "And it's this. You need to be able to picture this face clearly in your mind, for more than just a split second. And when you can do that, try to pay more attention to them. Be nice to them, compliment them. Show them they mean something to you," He said. I nodded.

"Can we move on to the other advice?" I asked, situation turned awkward. 

He laughed. "And be patient with them. Now we can," He said. 

I nodded and finally opened my eyes.

Patience yields focus, I chanted in my head. 

I turned to face Shiro now and looked up to see him smiling down at me. His grey eyes shined with familial love. The scar across his nose stood out more than usual in the lighting of my room.

"How do I control not crying when I get mad?" I asked. "I hate it and it makes me feel weak," I tried not to let my eyes fill up with the admission alone. I was starting to get angry over this again. He placed his hand on my shoulder. "And I am angry a lot! And I hate wearing someone else's clothes. I want my body back. I'm still a bit sore, and I can't even fight like I used to! I had to lower the level of the droids I was fighting! I lowered it to 5 instead of 7 or 8!" I was rambling now. 

And Shiro just let me. I let out all my frustration and concerns. "I mean, what if I start having periods!" I nearly shouted before covering my mouth. "What if I start having periods!?" I said quieter. My eyes became unfocused and I gripped my hair.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there Keith, until then, try and take it easy. I know personally what can happen to a person's body when the Druids mess with it," I remembered when he had a glowing purple scratch on his side. He thought he was going to die and I would have to lead voltron.

I remembered his faces when he was having nightmares in the Cryopod. I hated myself for not doing anything more for him.

He must have seen my face turn sour because he moved on. "Now, you can't force your body to do more than it is able. You're smaller, so you might want to try using your elbows and knees for fighting. It will require yourself to become closer to your target, but you can put more force behind it," He said. I nodded. "Oh and when we train, tie up your hair. You don't need hair that goes down to your lower back slowing you down." 

"Then I need hair ties. And new clothes. And when I don't need them anymore, I can give them to Pidge," I said. 

He stood up and ruffled my hair with his metal hand. "Then we'll go shopping," He said as he turned to leave. "Try and get some rest, otōto," I smiled. He hadn't called me otōto in a very long time. I hardly ever hear him speak his native tongue anymore.

"I love you, Oppa," I haven't used my native tongue in a while either. 

"I love you too," And with that, he let the door hiss closed behind him. I changed out of Pidge's clothes into nothing but my black shirt. It fell past my waist, leaving my legs mostly showing. They were pale and surprisingly hair free.

I didn't think much of it before laying down. I sighed and turned of the light using the switch by my bed. In the dark, left alone with nothing but my thoughts, I was finally calm. I thought of everything that Shiro and I spoke of. I would try and calm myself, even if it was hard. 

And I guess I'll try to be nicer to Lance, whether I had "feelings" for him or not. The image of him walking in to breakfast with his hair it's natural wavy state appeared in my head before I finally drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Otōto is little brother in Japanese, I don't know if it's used as a term of endearment in Japan, but that's what I'm using it as. 
> 
> Oppa is a Korean term of endearment that younger siblings use for older brothers. (It can also be used for girls towards boys they like that aren't family, for flirting or taking to their girl friends.)


	7. Nightmares and Sleepovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith starts to have nightmares, and hoes to the least expected person. Lance.

Chapter 6:

I groaned. I felt cold metal clasped around my wrists. My eyes shot open. It was dark. And cold. Like Cryopod cold. My breathing turned heavy and I tried to move. But I was strapped down. I called out to Shiro, Lance, anyone. No one answered. I started to hyperventilate. Even when my eyes started to adjust, it was too dark to see anything.

"Help! Please! Anyone!" I called out. My voice echoed but no one answered again.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm my breathing. "Please, help me," I whispered to the nothingness. Tears filled my eyes and spilled out over my lashes. 

It felt like clawed fingers were slowly dragging themselves over every inch on my skin. Slowly. Cutting deep.

My screams filled the darkness. Then came the feeling of the electricity but I couldn't see it. My high pitched shrieks hurt my throat as they were ripped from my body.

Where was everyone? Why isn't any one helping me? 

"HELP!" I screamed. Dark, nasally laughter filled my ears.

"Sorry, little girl, you can scream all you want, but no one is going to hear you," Haggars horrible voice whispered into my ear as a claw ran down my cheeks. 

"I want you to kill the blue one next. This time, make her watch," Zarkon's voice said, far into the depths of the blackness. "Then show her what we did to the Champion," He added. "He is the perfect little soldier now," His laughter quickly followed is words.

A sob forced me out of my sleep. I sat up and saw I was in my room on the Castle of Lions ship, still deep in space. Far from the horrors of Zarkon and Haggar. I rubbed my hands down my face. I was sort of bothered by the face that my being a girl wasn't just some dream.

My cheeks were wet with the tears I shed in my sleep. I groaned. More fucking tears. 

I checked my clock and saw that it was close to 2:30 am. I sighed. I grabbed my pillow and walked out of my room. I was tempted to go to Shiro's room like I used to when I was younger and had nightmares. But being that his room was close to Allura's and she was really bitchy if you wake her up in the middle of the night.

Pidge's and Hunk's room was past Allura's, so I didn't dare try them. Plus Pidge was probably still awake, and Hunk snored like a freight train. And I couldn't stand snoring.

That only left Coran, Lance and the couch. Or go back to my room.

I sighed.

There's no way in hell I'm sleeping with Coran. And the couch hurt my back and hips. Not something I wanted to sleep on for eight hours straight. I didn't even want to sleep on it for a five minute nap.

Defeated and dejected, I walked next door and knocked softly. He might not even hear me with how heavily he sleeps, and with Pidge's headphones on,  you might as well be waking a mountain. I knocked again, slightly louder.

Finally I heard shuffling from inside. The door hissed sideways, revealing a very tired looking Lance. He leaned heavily against his door frame and looked about ready to collapse. 

"What do you want?" He asked while yawning. I pushed past him. If he can barge into my room, I can do the same to his.

"Hey," He moaned after me. He followed sluggishly as I put my pillow on his bed and slid under the covers. He swayed for a second before I patted the bed, motioning him to lay down. 

"Don't think anything of this, got it!" I demanded in a whispered voice. He mumbled something close to an okay before lifting the covers. He slid in and tried to wrap his arms around me. I figured he was a cuddler, but I didn't mentally prepare for it. I scooted over for him and tried to keep some distance between us.

"Why are you even here?" He asked. I sighed, facing the wall.

"I had a nightmare and Shiro's room is next to Allura's," I felt the bed move with his shudder. He knew first hand why you never wake the princess.

"Okay, just for tonight then, and I apologize ahead of time if I cuddle with you," And with that, he fell back asleep. I tried to get comfortable. He rolled over towards me. He was breathing softly and I could feel it on my neck.

My face heated up and I tried not to move farther away from the body next to me. I chose this to help my nightmares, so I'd have to deal with this. I closed my eyes and tried fall asleep. I tried not to let my nightmare keep me from my sleep. 

The warmth coming off of Lance's sleeping form was nice and soothing. He might not have been as broad as Shiro, but he didn't sprawl out as much. He was like a cat. Curling into one spot and staying there.

I knew he was deeply asleep when his lanky, but surprisingly strong arms wrapped around my waist. I tried to pry them off of me, but to no avail. If anything, they tightened around me.

How the hell was this scrawny runt so strong?

Or was I really just this weak? 

God I hope not. I fear what my team would have to face if I was really so weak. I hate being weak. It made me feel useless and like a burden. And though no one has said anything about it, I feel like they are all thinking it, too.

I tried not to let my thoughts get to me. But it was hard. That damn Emperor and his druid bitch were probably laughing it up right now. And that caused my blood to boil.

"So soft," I heard Lance mumble against my hair. "Like a kitty cat," He talks in his sleep? How cute!

What!? No! Not cute, annoying! Bad brain.

Oh God, please just kill me now. 

After about an hour of struggling with my brain, I finally fell asleep to Lance's gentle breathing and his face buried into the nape of my neck. 

I found myself actually smiling as I finally drifted back to sleep.


	8. Singing in the Shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith starts singing in the shower, and Lance catches him.

Chapter 7: 

I snuggled further into the warmth of my bed. It was actually calming and nice. But when I tried to roll over, it was like a vice was around me waist and something heavy was on my legs. And something was right against my neck.

I nearly screamed until I remembered the night before. I tried shaking him awake, but to no avail. I tried poking his face, while trying to not get the face mask I hadn't seen in the dark on my fingers. I groaned.

Damn, this boy was a heavy sleeper. 

And now I needed to pee. Bad. I needed to take drastic measures. 

I elbowed Lance and he yelped as he jumped up. I ran to the bathroom that was attached to his room. It was a little awkward since this was my first time going to the bathroom as a girl. But once I came back out, Lance sat there confused. His face mask starting to come off.

His hair was wavy. For some reason, my heart sped up at the sight of it curling ever so slightly around his face. Especially his long sideburns.

I smirked and walked into his view. "Hey," I said. His blue eyes snapped to me. He gave me a once over, seeing I was only in my black tee shirt. His light brown face flushed in a blush. I smirked to myself. 

"W-why are you only in a shirt? And in my room?" He asked. I sighed and went to sit next to him.

"I had a nightmare and Shiro's room is next to Allura's," I said as casually as I could with no pants on. I even added a shrug. He didn't seem to relax. If anything he seemed more tense than before. 

"You didn't embarrass yourself if that's what your worried about. You are a cuddler, though," I said, my voice promising future black mailing. He groaned and rubbed his face, his mask flacking off under his hand. 

"We tell no one!" He said pointing his finger right in front of my face. I gave him a pointed look. He continued to scowl at me as he crossed his arms, waiting for my response. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh trust me, like I'd want them to know I spent the night with someone as idiotic as you," I said. I stood up. I quickly went to the door and checked the hall for anyone. No one.

Good.

I booked it to my room and shut the door behind me. I grabbed Pidge's clothes I wore yesterday and headed to the showers. When I got there, I was pleased to see no one else was there. I stripped off my too large shirt and stepped in the shower. 

I hummed softly to myself. It was a familiar tune I must have heard many times as a child, but forgot the full song. It saddened me that my subconscious mind knew something my conscious mind forgot. Soon my song turned into another as I scrubbed the Altean fruity smelling shampoo into my ridiculously long hair.

It was a song that I knew all the words too. It was a popular song when the Millennials were still kids. So about a generation and a half ago. I still heard it on the oldies stations. 

"Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding, fall into your sunlight. The future's open wide, beyond believing. To know why, hope dies. Losing what was found, a world so hollow, suspended in a compromise, yeah. The silence of this sound, is soon to follow. Somehow, sundown," I found myself singing. I don't know why, but I connected to these lyrics.

"And finding answers is forgetting all of the questions we called home, passing the graves of the unknown. As reason clouds my eyes, with splendor fading. Illusions of the sunlight. And a reflection of a lie, will keep me waiting with love gone, for so long," I didn't know if my eyes were stinging from the soap or from tears. But at the moment, I only cared about lyrics flowing from my mouth into the empty room.

"And this day's ending is the proof of time killing, all the faith I know, knowing that faith, is all I hold," I paused to catch my breath before the chorus came. 

"And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love. Without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on, but I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning. Who I am from the start, take me home to my heart. Let me go and I will run, I will not be silent. All this time spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain. All is lost, hope remains, and this war's not over. There's a light, there's the sun, taking all shattered ones, to the place we belong, and his love will conquer all," I cried as I sang the chorus again, louder this time, not caring if someone heard.

"And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love.Without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on. But I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning. Who I am from the start, take me home to my heart. Let me go and I will run, I will not be silent. All this time spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain. All is lost, hope remains, and this war's not over. There's a light, there's the sun, taking all shattered ones to the place we belong, and his love will conquer all," I quieted my voice as I finished the last few lines. 

"Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding, fall into your sunlight," I finished as I rinsed the soap out of my hair and shut of the water. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my body, just underneath my armpits. I turned and looked to see Lance standing there, his eyes wide, face flushed and clutching his hygiene bag to his robe clad chest.

"Lance!" I squeaked. Literally squeaked.

I cleared my voice and triedata it again. "Lance, what are you doing here!? Watching me shower!? You fucking pervert!" I said, trying to push him out of the way. But he just pulled me against him.

"I didn't know you could sing like that," He said. "Especially with that much emotion." And it's awkward. 

I tried to pull away, definitely not flushing at the smell of his Altean cologne. 

"Yeah, it's not a big deal, Lance, so what? I can sing. Lots of people can," I said. "Now let me go so I can get dressed," I said, pushing at his chest again. I could feel it when he hesitated to release me from the vice that was his arms.

He wouldn't budge. I digged abs let my arms fall to my sides. "Lance, let go before I knee you in the balls," I threatened. That for him to let go in an instant. I smirked. "Now please lace so I can get dressed."

Man this boy is annoying. But, for some reason is not bothering me as much as it used to.

I wonder why. 


	9. Diplomacy Comes to Town, Er... Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura tells the Paladins that they are going to be meeting with A'llidea, the Queen of the Galitetreans.

Chapter 8:

After I was finally dressed in Pidge's clothes, I made it to breakfast. The others were already eating. Except Lance wasn't even there. He might in the shower now.

That boy takes forever to do anything. I say down in my usual spot and started eating the Goo provided to us. I sighed as I took my first bite, not really hungry. But I knew I needed the strength to carry on throughout the day.

When Lance finally graced is with his presence and sat down next to me, Allura addressed us.

"I know that it's been a rough couple of days, and that we are all tired and confused, but late last night we received a beacon from a planet that claim they have yet to be under Zarkon's control," She said. We all looked a chance other, confused.

"How far out are they?" Shiro asked her.

"Meet me in the Bridge and I'll show you," She says as she stood and walked out of the room.

I quickly finished eating, not wanting to be here longer than I needed to be. Especially with Lance so close. I don't know what the fuck was wrong with me lately, but it needed to stop.

I went to Red first to get my Paladin armor. I didn't even bother going to my room. I just changed right inside her. She didn't seem mind. For which I was glad. It would have been awkward if my lion was uncomfortable with me changing into my armor inside her with no underwear that fits me to wear underneath. The armor felt uncomfortable with only the skin tight under armor under it as a barrier between my skin and the actual armor itself. 

And as I predicted, the suit did shrink to accommodate for my new size. It even compensated for the addition of the breast that they gave me. 

I sighed, trying not to let that get to me. 

As I clicked the last piece into place, I walked out with my helmet in hand. I'd have to ask Allura is she had something to tie up my hair with.

* * *

Once I got to the Bridge, everyone was already there.

Pidge was messing with a data pad. Hunk was looking at the princess waiting for her to speak. Lance just lounged in his spot, looking very bored. Shiro was whispering something with the princess and Coran just stood there with his hands behind his back looking much like the Royal Adviser he was.

I sighed and reluctantly went to my seat, instantly alert as I felt Lance's eyes follow me. 

"Oh good! Everyone's here now!" The princess said. "Now, we are currently on voyage to the planet of Galitetra. The Galitetreans have invited us to a Royal dinner and ball in hopes of forming an alliance with us," she said with a smile. The ball will be in several quintents, meaning we get to stay for a while unless our Paladin duties pull us away and delays this meeting. We will be meeting with A'llidea, the Queen of the Galitetra."

She looked around at all of us in turn. "Now there are a few rules. You have to wear whatever clothing they have provided for you. And Keith, they are aware of your situation, but they have you wear female clothing during your duration of time there. That may include dresses," She said to me. I groaned and slide further down in my seat. Lance snickered at my expense. I gave him a pointed look.

"Keep laughing at me, and I won't be the only one here with a missing dick!" I threatened. That shut him up instantly. I smirked to myself as I turned back around.

The Princess and Shiro both gave me a look that was both a mixture of amusement and disappointment. It looked strange, but it somehow worked.

"Ahem, let's get back to business," Shiro said, putting his hands on his hips. I could tell it was mostly for show. I knew he liked Allura and liked to show off his leadership skills and becks. 

I smirked at him, giving him a knowing look. He flushed but said nothing to me.

"Ah, right, now, this meal provided for us will be a bit different than the food you've had in the past, but it should be edible to humans. If not, they have Cryopods to heal anything you might get. Whether it be an allergic reaction, or poison, they can heal you," She continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. 

"Poison doesn't sound good! We won't get poisoned will we? Oh God, what I'd one of us gets poisoned? What if they are tricking us so they can poison us?" Hunk freaked. I sighed. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Hunk, we are not going to get poisoned," Shiro said. Hunk calmed a little, but I could tell he was still worried. 

Lance sighed now. "Hunk, if they were going to tricky us into eating poison, why would they have us stay for a week and provide fancy ass clothes for us?" He asked. Hunk thought about that for a moment. After a while he gave a bashful smile, and blushed.

"Oh, right, hadn't thought about that," He said, ducking his head slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. I smiled slightly. For someone who's as large as him, he sure was a big softy,like a big ol' teddy bear. Not that that was a bad thing. I thought it was good. We needed more guys like Hunk. He needs more appreciation.

"So what about me?" Pidge asked. "Will I have to wear a dress?" She asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose. Allura looked at her with a sisterly smile.

"Perhaps. They do know you are a girl, so they may provide dresses for you as well," She said. Pidge nodded. I thought of the picture she had of her and her brother. The one where Hunk thought that she was her own girlfriend. She wore a dress in the picture. It reminded me of this one anime I saw with an old girlfriend of mine. It was about a girl who had got gum in her hair and had to cut it the day before school started and looked like a boy. I think she broke an expensive vase or something and joined some club to pay it off.

Don't remember the name, but Pidge reminded me of the main girl. 

"So are there anymore rules?" Shiro asked. This time, Coran stepped forward. He puffed out his chest and folded his hand behind him.

"Now, it not so much a rule, just some warning of their culture!" He said cheerfully. "Galitetreans are an honorable and majestic civilization! They pride themselves on their ability to create art using their cities infrastructure, and their knowledge of the known Universe! Their technology, from what I hear, is far more advanced than even the entire Galra Empire!" Pidge perked up immediately. 

"Really!? I'd love to see what they've been able to accomplish. I wonder if they're technology is compatible with the Altean and Galraen tech that I've been able to gather," She said, mostly to herself. "And I wonder if I'll be able to use that crown to create more tech using the materials they have on their planet." 

Allura giggled at our small tech friend. I couldn't help but smile at her either. Whenever she geeked out like this, it was absolutely adorable. She makes me wish just had a little sister. I mean, she's like my little sister, but I wish she was blood related to me.

"It's entirely possible, number 5!" Coran said. "We'll just have to wait and see when we get there," He said. 

Shiro turned to him. "And how far out are they?" Shiro asked. Coran reached up to stroke his mustashe. 

"They are about a few quintents away if we don't use a wormhole," He said. "They are on the outer most edge of the known Universe. The Galitetra Solar System is in the Deibutabrea Galaxy. So it's quite far from your home world, I'm afraid to say," He explained. We all felt it. The sense of how small we truly were. And the weight of our homesickness was getting to us. We all had different ways to deal with it, but none of us, I don't think, let it stop us from our job.

"Then we use a wormhole. Allura, are you alright to create one?" Shiro asked.

"I'll be fine. Let's go," She said in her most diplomatic voice. She went to the controls and placed her hands on both control panels.

* * *

We reached the outer planet of the Galitetra Solar System in an instant. There were less planets in this system than in our's. There were five instead of nine. A small brownish red one with no moons. A deep violet one that looked like all liquid something. I don't think it was water. It had about a dozen moons. A yellow, red and orange one with two moons. And one that was all white ice with four or five it looked like. But not Galitetra. 

I didn't know how many moons the planet we were going to had, but that didn't really matter.

We glided smoothly through space as we quickly passed the first three planet's that looked like there was no life forms. The forth planet had both land and liquid water. It looked much like Earth, but the continents were shaped very differently. And there was very few spots that had green plants, many looked purple or a strange dark blue color. There were ice caps on the poles like Earth and, from what it looked like, white clouds. 

You just never knew with alien planets. I mean, it rained molten rocks on Altea. 

As we closed in on the planet, we slowed significantly. Still distinctively faster than anything on Earth, but a lot slower than we were used to traveling. 

When we entered the atmosphere of the planet, turbulence shook the ship. Hunk soon started looking green. Everyone found something to grab onto while we roughed out the shaking. 

When it smoothed out, we all released a breath none of us knew we were holding. I started to see tall buildings that were much more magnificent than anything on Earth. They twisted into shaped that didn't look that they should be standing. The black exteriors of the building glinted in the light of their yellow sun. It was breathtaking. 

My eyes widened at the sight of them. I could now see why architects do what they do. To create masterpieces like these. 

I heard a soft 'wow' come from Pidge. I knew exactly what was going on in her head.

How do they get them to stay standing? What do they use to create such beautiful buildings? If they can create this, what else are they capable of?

We landed by the clearly oldest building. It looked like it was made out of stone of some kind. It was a gray purple color and looked like a medieval Castle. It had five towers with slitted windows, clearly once meant for arrows or even guns. The large towering door was made out of what I'm assuming is their equivalent to wood. It was a maroon color and lowered as soon as we touched down.

Three figured walked towards our ship as we stepped out of it.

Two were dressed in uniforms similar to our military. The third wore a nice three pieces suit. Probably an ambassador or an adviser to the queen. They didn't look like any other alien we've come across. They had skin colors that ranged in different shades of blue or purple. They looked similar to humans. They same shape nose, eyes and mouths, though their eyes might have been stranger. Almost like they were a tad bit larger.

The ears looked similar to the Alteans though. Maybe not as sharp but definitely pointed, like if cats ears were on the side of their heads instead of on top.

They had angular features. Like they were statues. But then as they came closer, I saw the tails that they sported. They looked like cat tails. And I saw they had claws similar to the Galra.

They had spots on their skin that looked like tattoos. They had swirls and dots on their necks, sided of their faces and tails. And I bet you a hundred gak that they had them know if torsos, arms and dad legs. Each pattern was unique to the person. Honestly, they looked awesome.

"Greeting, Paladins! We welcome you to our great world," The one in the suit said in a heavy accent that sounded almost like you mixed Russian and English together. It was weird, but I didn't say anything about it. 

"Hello, you must be Aketra," Allura said extending her hand to him. He smiled at her and I saw cat like teeth. "I'm Princess Allura of Altea." He bowed slightly and kissed the back of her hand.

"Indeed we know who you are, Daughter of King Alfor, we were once great Allies with Alfor's bloodline," Aketra said. He turned to Shiro. "You must be the infamous Champion that slipped through the Galra Empires fingers. I do believe you'll be heavily prized to Queen A'llidea," Shiro flushed, not knowing what Aketra meant. And with that wicked grin Aketra flashed, I'm not sure he wanted.

"Please follow us. You must be tired and hungry from your travels. You'll meet with the Queen on the beginning of the new dawn," He said, turning. His tail swished behind him as he walked with his silent soldiers on either side of him.


	10. Midnight Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins arrive on Galitetra, and Lance and Keith have another bonding moment.

Chapter 9:

Aketra led us through the Castle. And though it looked old on the outside, the inside looked like it stepped out of Stars Trek. White walls with sliding doors that looked like they needed had prints to open. The white light that filled the room came from little holes in the high ceilings. But it was unlike any lightbulb on my home planet or on the ship. 

It looked like they had harnessed the abilities of crystals to light using nothing but the crystal itself. I bet it didn't have any heat coming off of it either. 

The control pads to the doors had many different languages written on it. Including English. That confused me the most. There were also screens but each foot that looked like they might be used to communicate to the person on the otherside without needed to open the door. 

I saw a few doors open. Inside were girls cleaning in what must have been the maid outfits. They were dresses that must get hiding their tails. The bottom flaring out at the waist until it reached the floor, hiding their feet from view. They looked almost like more modern versions of Victorian dresses.

Other rooms had no one in it. One looked like a meeting room with chairs around a table that was a computer screen, presumably touch screen. That room had monitors on the back wall. They were off at the moment, but the room was clearly well used as the chairs were not even pushed in.

Aketra's tail flicked behind him as he walked calmly in front of us. 

A door to my left open and a droid stepped out. It was different from the droids that the Galra had. It was not as menacing looking. It wasn't the cold steel gray and purple either. It was a calming off white, nearly a light cream color. Its eyes glowed the color of rose quartz. It was also not as tall as the Galra droids. 

It was about Shiro's height. Like the Galitetreans were. It also resembled the features of the Galitetreans. 

The Droid was also somewhat aware of my staring. It turned to look at me. "Hello Red Paladin, I hope you enjoy your stay here," It said in a male voice, it's mouth actually opening when it speaks. It bowed at the waist and placed a hand over where it's heart to would be. I smiled at it.

It smiled back, the fake skin around its pink eyes and mouth crinkling slightly. I quickly caught up with the group, Pidge staring with a longing towards the Droid, clearly wanting to interact with it.

"That was Ai," Aketra said, looking over his shoulder at me. He pronounced the base as A I. Just quickly.

"Cleaver," I said. He smiled.

"Isn't it?" He jokingly asked. He stopped at a stair case. "Now this floor is where you will be staying. And as long as you don't enter the rooms I told you about, you should be fine," He said. Wait, he was speaking before? He gave me a knowing look. I tried not to blush.

"Now the first floor on the right is going to be the Blue Paladin's room. The first on the left is the Yellow's. The second room on the right is the Red's, the one on the left goes the the green. The Room at the end of the hall you all will very staying is goes to the Black. And the Princess will be down the first hall to the right, first door in the right," Aketra said as he led us up the stairs.

"That is our Royal suite. Your adviser is going to be in the room next to yours," He said to Allura.

"Thank you so much, Aketra. Your hospitality is absolutely wonderful. Queen A'llidea will be sure to hear of this when we meet with her in the morning," Allura said. Aketra bowed in the same manner that Ai did. 

"Thank you, Princess," He said. "Sleep well, all of you."

* * *

I laid on my bed that night staring up at the canopy hanging over the four poster bed.

I sighed. It's not that this gedanken was uncomfortable. It was far more so than even the federal I had on the Castle of Lions. It's just that whenever I close my eyes, I see Zarkon and Haggar staring at me, smiling, snarling down at me. And I hated it. 

I didn't want nightmares again tonight. I dug my palms into my eyes and sat up. I was wearing the silk feeling night dress they provided for me. I hated it too. It felt too thin. 

It went down to my knees and had spaghetti straps. It was a pale red color. 

I felt like it wasn't covering anything. I got out of bed and grabbed my red jacket. I put it on over the night dress before leaving my room. I saw Shiro's door at the end of our hall, but refrained from going there. Instead, I found my feet walking in the opposite direction, to the door to my right.

I didn't even bother knocking, I just pressed my hand to the touch pad and the door slide silently open. I saw Lance laying on the Queen sized bed, snoring softly on every exhaled breath.

I stood there for a couple ticks before Lance stirred. He must have felt me staring at him. He groaned and lifted the little mask from over his eyes.

"Keith?" He groaned out. I walked slowly to the right side of the bed. "Nightmares again?" He asked, fully awake now. I chewed on my lip, contemplating telling him the truth.

"I couldn't even fall asleep. And last night was probably the best night sleep that I've had since finding out that I was part Galra," I found myself admitting. Lance physical softened. 

He scooted over and patted the bed next to him. I placed my hands and left knee onto the bed and slid onto the bed. I sat on my feet and looked at my open hands in my lap.

"Hey I'm sorry. I wish you didn't need to go through that. We should have formed Voltron and destroyed that Galra fleet before it had a chance to take you. We should have listened to you when you said they seemed like they were targeting you," Lance admitted. I saw how broken he looked. 

I'm the one who was literally tortured and he looked more broken than I was. 

"Do... do you blame yourself?" I asked, grabbing his face with both of my hands and gently made him look at me. I'd never seen tears in his eyes before and my chest tightened for some unknown reason. 

Why does this keep happening to me? 

"Yeah. That's why I've been-" I cut him off.

"You've been a jerk lately because you want me to hit you so you can feel better?" I guessed. He looked to the side, but since I still held his face, it was only his eyes that moved. He nodded. Slowly, I moved my hands from his face to around him in a tight hug.

"It's not your fault," I whispered. "I shouldn't have gotten that close to the fleet." His hands gripped my jacket and he practically pulled me into his lap. Here I thought I came here seeking comfort, but instead, I was doing the comforting.

I didn't know he felt this badly about himself.

"No, it is. I should have done something to save you, Keith," He said, pulling me tighter to his chest with his strong, but lanky arms. My new breasts getting squished between us. It kind of hurt.

"You couldn't, though. So just... don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't control," I said. He sighed into the side of my neck. I awkwardly lifted my hand from his back and ran it through his still wavy hair. It was soft. Not that it surprised me with his daily hygiene regimen. 

He hummed softly. I felt his tears soaked into my flimsy night dress.

"It's okay, Lance, we'll figure out how to change me back. And when we fight the final battle, I'll let you take out your anger on Zarkon," I said with a smile he couldn't see. "Would that make you feel better?" I asked. He nodded. His hair tickled my neck, and I tried not to laugh. I felt him smirk into my neck.

"You're ticklish?" He asked. I let go of him and moved away. Even in the dark, I saw his mischievous, wolfish smile. He moved quickly and started tickling my sides. 

Needless to say, I yelped out laughter and neither of us got much sleep.


	11. Meeting with the Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins finally meetc with the Queen, A'llidea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is going to be super long, and the notes are the end will be two since they'll have several links to the dresses that Allura and Pidge wear. And even Dress, Hair and Jewelry that Keith wears. (Honestly never thought that I'd say that.)

Chapter 10:

I woke up with half on top of Lance and with a strand of my long hair in my mouth. I groaned and struggled to get it out. It felt gross with the spit soaked hair sticking to my neck and fingers now. 

I pushed myself up with my elbows. I could feel that my night dress had ridden up to not even cover my ass.

Lance and I were both on our stomachs. His face was turned towards me. I could feel his warm breath on my face. Thank God his breath didn't stink. 

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Lance had his arm draped lazily over the small of my back. It was nice actually. Not only because he was finally quiet for once, but because he knew that I needed this to keep my nightmares away.

I found myself smiling softly and feeling pleased. He looked cute while he slept, his curly hair barely hanging over his closed eyes. His lips looked so soft. Adorable. Kissable.

Then I realized that it was  _Lance_ I was talking about. I instantly stopped smiling and blushed. Ugh! Why the hell is my new body reacting like this!?

I shouldn't feel like this towards  _him_ of all people.

I blushed deeply as I slipped out from under his arm and fixed my night dress. He groaned and turned his face the other way. I escaped to the attached bathroom and leaned against the closed door. I covered my burning face with one hand and clutched at my heart with the other. I could feel it hitting my ribs so ahrd it physically hurt.

"What have you done, you treacherous thing!?" 

* * *

An hour later, I was in my room, with several of the maids fussing over me. They helped me into a maroon and black dress. There was no sleeves, and it reached the floor. It felt like silk and the collar dipped lower than I was comfortable with. 

The collar was ruffled and had a bow right in the middle. It was red and black. It was tight around the middle and fell in ruffled from the waist. The bottom of the dress was in two layers. The top layer was the maroon and the bottom layer was black. The red layer was ruffled and had two points that looked pinned up to the waist with bows. It also looked like the top layer had many layers.

The bottom layer reached the floor and was rumpled along the edge. 

I had complained to the maids that I shouldn't be wearing dress, but they said that Queen A'llidea insisted on all the women in our team wearing dresses.

They also put my hair into an updo that had braids on either side of my head and went into a fancy, but messy bun, with two tendrils of hair curled loosely on either side of my face. 

They put some light makeup on me, that I fought tooth and nail for them not to put on me, and painted my nails the same maroon color as the dress. They also gave me a bracelet that had red roses and pedals carved from what might have been their equivalent to Garnet on black wire, that was attached to pink ribbon. They placed it on my wrist and tied the ribbon into a bow.

Next was a black, velvet choker with a black pendant with a red rose on it, dangling from a gold chain. They didn't tie that one too tight. And when it was in place, the pendant hung right over that soft pressure point on the base of my neck.

"Alright, Miss, I think you are ready!" One of the maids said. She was a light grey-purple color, and her markings looked like feathers almost. She was nice enough. 

The other was almost cyan in color. Her markings looked featherish too. I think that the males had the harsher lines and dots, where as the females had more feathery and calmer lines.

"Thanks? Um, I don't think I got your names," I said, blushing under the light powder they had put on my face. 

"I am Tayel," The grey-purple one said. "And this is Fraye." She said motioning to the other. 

"Well, my name is Keith. And I'm not originally a girl," I said. I wasn't good with small talk. They giggled.

"Are the Galra just now discovering how to remove the male sex cell?" Tayel asked. Fraye giggled again. "We figured that out about two decafeebs ago. But we don't do it since it's playing God." 

It's surprising to hear such an advanced race speak of God. It was almost... human. "Really?" They both nodded. I still haven't heard Fraye speak. I wonder why.

"You'll meet the queen after the first meal, I'd hurry to the Dining hall, Keith," Tayel said. "A Guard is waiting outside your room to escort you there," She said. I nodded and thanked her again.

They helped me into a pair of short maroon heels before and they curtsied and left. I sighed. I stood and walked around a bit to get used to the heels so I don't eat shit in front of the queen. 

When I finally found the best way to walk so I couldn't twist my ankle, I walked out of the room. There stood a Galitetrean man who looked about my age. He wore the uniform of the soldiers we saw yesterday when we arrived. 

"Hello, you must be the Red Paladin, yes?" He asked in his Russian-English accent. He had dark blue skin and more swirls than the other Galitetreans I've seen so far. Then it hit me. They were like the aliens from the movie Avatar! Just not as tall and with human like noses. And slightly more cat-like. But yeah, that who they reminded me of.

I nodded, ignoring my thought.

"Good, come with me, er... sir?" He looked uncomfortable with me being a girl and him calling me sir. I smiled. I've been smiling a lot more lately. I don't like it.

"Just call me Keith," I told him. He nodded then held out his elbow. I gave him a confused look.

"All ladies, even if they were once male, need to be escorted by a guard if they are guest of the queen," He explained. "It's the rules," He added. 

"Oh," Was my only response. 

"I'm Riehl, by the way," He said with a smile that showed his cat-like fangs.

 I gave him a smile smile and grabbed the crook of his elbow. We started walking in what I hope is in the direction of the Dining Hall. I was starving. We walked down the stairs, and moments later joined by Shiro and Allura. Allura held Shiro's arm just as I held onto Riehl's.

Allura wore a purple and black dress. It had a higher collar than mine. The sleeves were ruffled slightly. The front was black and had the same colored ribbon crossed over the chest tied into a bow underneath the ruffled black collar.

It had a simple ruffle around the waist and then the black that went to the floor had ruffled ribbon in three lines across, connecting from one side of the purple the the other. The purple ruffled around the black that it surrounded. The purple fabric stopped about a foot above the floor and the black continues to the floor.

Her hair was done in her usual style when she wasn't in her armor.

Allura smiled as she saw me. Shiro tried to hold in his laughter. "You look lovely, Keith," Allura said. 

Shiro wore a nice black shirt under a jacket with coattails. He also had on a nice black tie. His hair was slicked back. "Very lovely indeed, Keith," He said, his amusement not even hidden.

"At least my hair doesn't look like Peppy Le Pew," I shot back. 

"Who's Peppy Lee Pew?" Allura and Riehl asked. Me and Shiro sighed before Shiro explained who he was, which led to more questions. And those answered led to more questions. And it seemed to be a never ending cycle, so I let Shiro do all the talking.

* * *

When we finally made it to breakfast, I saw that the other's where already there. Hunk and Lance both wore similar suits to Shiro, the only noticeable difference was their ties. Lance had a dark blue and Hunk had one the same dandelion yellow as his headband that he surprisingly still wore.

Lance's hair was finally straightened and nicely slicked back as well. Hunk's though was just combed as he still wore his headband, tied into a not at the back of his head. 

Pidge had on a forest green and off white dress. The neckline was square and trimmed with the white. The sleeves where ruffled slightly and also had the white trim. It wasn't as tight looking as Allura's ancient mine as it didn't fall to the floor from the waist. Instead it had a green bow right under her now noticeable breasts. 

There was two layers like mine and Allura's, but you could only see a triangle of the white. The white looked to have been stitched together in four separate pieces. Each one slightly wrinkled and the last was the most wrinkled and went all the way around. The material it was made from wasn't as shiny as mine and Allura's.

Her hair was pinned up with what looked like jeweled bobby pins. And she didn't have her glasses on, I think she nay have contacts in or she doesn't need glasses at all.

I was placed right beside Lance and I tried not to blush. 

"You look very beautiful," Pidge snickered. I glared at her.

"Shut up, you look like a rejected Disney Princess," Which wasn't true, she was quite pretty.

Lance, I saw from the corner of my eye, was watching me with an almost awed expression. He hadn't even moved his arm since I sat down. 

His eyes were wide and his mouth agape. 

"Yeah, you look very nice," Hunk complimented. I smiled at him.

"Well, you look like a total Hunk," I said.

I WAS MAKING PUNS NOW?

He dropped his fork. "Did-Did you just make a joke?" He asked. "A pun?" He continued. "Guys, I think Girl Keith broke Regular and/or Galra Keith," He said. "Cracking jokes, wearing not only a dress, but jewelry  _and_ makeup?" 

Shiro just gave him a look. "Girl Keith isn't any different than Regular Keith. And Galra Keith  _is_ Regular Keith," Shiro explained. Hunk looked down at his plate, almost ashamed of his pm self or making all those jokes.

"Hunk, it's fine. Joking is just how you cope with change," I said before picking up my own fork and taking a bite of whatever was in front of me.

* * *

After breakfast was complete, we were led to the Throne Room. Pidge held onto Hunk's arm, Allura on Shiro's. And that left me with Lance. Coran walked alone with his arms behind his back. He was still allowed to wear his own Altean clothes because of "Political reasons."

Once the large wooden doors swung inward, we got our first look at the Queen. It was a young Galitetrean girl a few years older than Pidge. Maybe a year younger than me?

"Welcome, Paladins and Altean Princess and Royal Adviser. I greet you to my humble home and Planet." Humble my ass. 

Allura curtsied and Pidge followed her example, I was a little slow if the draw. The men bowed at the waist, trying to imitate the Galitetrean bow or salute.

"Thank you, Your Majesty for welcoming us to your home and considering a partnership in ridding the universe of the Galra tyranny," Allura said in her Princess voice.

"And the Paladins, they speak the common dialect of the known Universe?" She questioned. 

Shiro stood first and addressed the Queen. "Yes, your Majesty, though on our Planet, it is called English," He stated.

The queen looked confused. "Your planet has more than one language? Fascinating, I have heard of it, but I didn't want if it was true or not," She said. 

 "Well, my home planet is always home to you if you do wish, but as for a partnership, we will still need to discuss that with the Princess, Adviser and Black Paladin. The rest of you are dismissed for now. Though I will be seeing you shortly. Abraeta, and good luck," She said as the rest of us filed out. My arm being taken again by Lance. 

I blushed and refused to look up at him. 

"Hey, Keith?" He asked.

"Hmm?" I responded. 

He sighed. "You do look very nice," He said. "For a girl, I mean," He added a bit to quickly and clearly full of embarrassment. 

My blush deepened and I refused to look up at him. I heard Pidge snicker again. I didn't even bother glaring at her this time. Hunk though just smiled. 

"It's good to see them getting along for once," He tried to whisper to Pidge. "Becoming friends and whatnot."

"Oh I think they are more than just 'friends'" She said, air quoting with only one hand, I finally noticed her nail painted the same green as her dress. 

"Get you ten gak that Lance breaks first."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's what Keith was wearing:
> 
> *The Bracelet: https://www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-samsung&biw=800&bih=500&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=5Zr2WI7SCObKjwTlhrTIAg&q=red+fancy+bracelets&oq=red+fancy+bracelets&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...59367.61138.0.61906.11.11.0.0.0.0.294.1519.0j8j2.10.0....0...1c.1.64.mobile-gws-img..4.1.123...30i10k1.UV9cfozwGIU#tbm=isch&q=red+and+black+jeweled+bracelets&imgrc=z70pMCVvWYGbYM:
> 
> *The necklace: https://www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-samsung&biw=800&bih=500&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=ZJz2WO3gFKXCjwSE0agg&q=black+chokers+with+a+rose+charm&oq=black+chokers+with+a+rose+charm&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...611730.620798.0.621143.33.25.1.0.0.0.613.5381.4j9j6j0j4j1.24.0....0...1c.1j4.64.mobile-gws-img..8.13.4198.3..0j35i39k1j0i67k1j0i8i30k1.hTYkaMs5GVg#imgrc=pcdmyIGHmzzYtM:
> 
> *The Dress: https://www.google.com/search?sa=X&q=red+victorian+dress&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSlQEJH1FddFo9EmYaiQELEKjU2AQaAggIDAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo_1gT6HMwQiwXtEb8OowKDEZYPhg7UIMsw5iuNI8Ew4STBJZ0szDu6Ixowm9_1ilk7RDgAes7HdBkV8xHbCx4FMTvlttFMr2OCL7e2y8JPFzk3OfR74jDj99ahkIAQMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgQKNWegDA&ved=0ahUKEwjW1JyMq6_TAhUMzIMKHUY6CgMQwg4IFygA&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=q1YE98dj8leblM:
> 
> *The Hair: (Just imagine it black) https://www.google.com/search?q=https+s+media+cache+ak0+pinimg+com+736x+9b+fd+b6+9bfdb6c0171fdd95b8eb5aa2eba71503+jpg&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSlQEJH1FddFo9EmYaiQELEKjU2AQaAggIDAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo_1gT6HMwQiwXtEb8OowKDEZYPhg7UIMsw5iuNI8Ew4STBJZ0szDu6Ixowm9_1ilk7RDgAes7HdBkV8xHbCx4FMTvlttFMr2OCL7e2y8JPFzk3OfR74jDj99ahkIAQMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgQKNWegDA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi57b6zq6_TAhWf3oMKHVKxBsAQ2A4IGCgB&biw=800&bih=1280#tbm=isch&q=9bfdb6c0171fdd95b8eb5aa2eba71503&imgrc=cvSHyWmCIHC9zM:
> 
> Here's Allura's Dress: https://www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-samsung&biw=800&bih=500&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=eLr2WIyWFszbjwTi44fICA&q=purple+victorian+dress&oq=purpe+Victorian&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.1.0.0i13k1l5.360921.370201.0.373441.27.22.0.0.0.0.1018.8276.0j4j5j6j1j1j3j1.21.0....0...1c.1j4.64.mobile-gws-img..17.10.5589...0j35i39k1j0i5i30k1j0i67k1j0i10k1.OSdreZOjYJg#imgrc=oV_ZEli5hBal4M:
> 
> And Pidge's Dress: https://www.google.com/search?q=green+dresses&client=tablet-android-samsung&prmd=sinv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEoLPIrK_TAhXq64MKHUPJBhsQ_AUICCgC&biw=800&bih=1280#tbm=isch&q=green+dresses&chips=q:green%20dresses,g_1:victorian&imgrc=Gleh24neLO4fvM:


	12. Seeing the Signs, Learning the Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is forced to dance with Lance.

Chapter 11:

I hid in my room, hiding my feet inside the dress. I didn't have those stupid heels on, and I couldn't wear anything that they didn't give to me. And they didn't give me any pants to wear. I might be able to ask for some, but I don't knew how they react.

I sighed and hugged my legs to my chest. I rested my forehead on my knees and concentrated on breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

But no matter what breathing or mental exercises I did,  _his_ stupid face popped up into my mind, smiling like a damn fool. I felt my heart race, and my face burn. I pictured his face when he caught me singing. When he caught me from the Cryopod. When he woke up with me in his bed the first time.

And from last night when we had a bond moment and cradled each other in each others arms.

I felt a stupid, girly smile creep onto my face. I needed to get this damn body in check. 

I lifted my head when I heard a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I asked. 

"It's me," Shiro said from the other side of the door. "Can I come in? You're not... naked are you?" I could practically see the same color blush on his face that he had when he gave me "the talk." I shuddered

"No, you can come in," I said. I stood up and walked to the door. I opened it, and there he stood. He lost the suit jacket and had his sleeves rolled up. I could see all the scars he had on his flesh arm. Many looked like they were deep and wide. There were a few others that were small and shallow. There was even one that looked like a burn. But I knew what that was from.

It happened when we were at a beach party he dragged me too. He tripped and had gotten too close to the bonfire.

Then we had to explain what we were doing at the hospital at 12:30 at night to our dad.

"I keep forgetting how short you are now," He said with a smirk. I glared up at him. 

"What do you need?" I said, trying not to sound totally bitchy. He smiled.

"Lance said you practically ditched him after the meeting with the Queen, so I came to check up on you," He said, putting his hands in his pockets. I sighed. "Plus the Queen and the Princess want us in the Ballroom; I came to escort you there," He said.

I groaned. I went back in snd stepped into my shoes. He held out his elbow and I took it. "Why are we going to let Ballroom?" I asked. 

"We need to get ready for the Ball. That means learning how to dance," Shiro said, giving me a knowing look. I groaned again. I hated dancing. I'd much rather just lay on my bed and listen to music with my eyes closed, hands behind me head, and just forget the world around me. 

"Please don't make me," I whined. Literally whined. Shiro chuckled after my expense. 

" _I'm_ not making you, _Allura_ is," He said. "Besides, it's good to diplomatic nature to learn and experience the others culture and traditions before making an alliance so you knew what you were getting into," He explained as if he was quoting Allura herself. 

Knowing his school girl crush, he probably was.

_'It's not like you're any better,'_ A small voice in the back of my mind said.

Where the hell did  _that_ come from?

* * *

Surprise surprise, I was stuck dancing with Lance. 

Coran stood off to the side of the room calling out steps. I watched my feet. I didn't want to look up at him.

When Shiro and I got to the Ballroom, Pidge was dancing with Hunk already. And Lance was talking to Allura. And with the look on Shiro's face, I knew he wanted to dance with her. 

Hence me being stuck with Lance. 

"Eyes on your partner, not on your feet, Keith!" Coran said in his too cheery voice. I grumbled and looked up at Lance. His face looked slightly flushed, but that might be because we've been dancing for quite some time, and it's getting hot in this room.

He looked at me as he led the dance. It was a simple waltz. His right hand holding my left. And his left hand was on the small of my back. My right hand was on his shoulder. We were going to learn more steps later, but for now we needed to master the waltz. 

And then later we would learn how to do a slow version of a swing dance.

"I'm sorry you were stuck with me," I said. Lance sighed. I gave him a confused look. "It's just that you seem like you used to dance a lot, but I haven't dance a lot, and I don't really like it," I admitted.

Why does my brain keep admitting things to Lance of all people? 

"It's fine. Honestly, no girl has ever really wanted to dance with me. I even had to take my cousin to prom," He looked kind of sad. But the look was there and gone so fast, I couldn't be sure it was ever really there.

"Really? With the how much you flirt, I would have been sure it would have worked at least once," I said.

He gave me a small smile. "It did. Once. On a mermaid named Plaxum," He said. He looked almost like Hunk when he talks about Shay. "She even kissed me." 

I felt something heavy in my chest. But I ignored it. With how my new body was reacting, I didn't trust whatever made me want to literally growl at the thought of him kissing some sexy mermaid chick.

We didn't talk again as we danced. We added a spin to the dance. Lance seemed smug as he held my left arm up as I spun in place. And with out warning, I was dipped over Lance's arm. I yelped and jumped back up and clung to him. 

He laughed softly into my ear. "Sorry," I pulled away from him. 

"No you're not," I said. I let him go and went to the chair next to Coran. I folded my arms and was forced to cross my legs like a girl. 

But then again, I was a girl. I groaned. This whole situation fucking sucked ass. I couldn't sit how I used to. I couldn't wear my own clothes. My shoes didn't fit, so I walked around the Castle of Lions barefoot. And now I had to wear uncomfortable dresses and shoes that made me feel like one wrong move and I'll fall on my face or ass.

I sighed as Coran looked down at me through the corner of his eyes. 

"Lance annoying you, I assume?" He asked. I nodded. "Figures. He's a good kid, but he doesn't have much of a filter it seems when it comes to a pretty girl. Not that your naturally a girl, but still. I'd always wondered about the human courting process. Shiro talked to me about it once or twice," He said.

I looked up at the ginger Altean. "Really?" 

"Mhmm," He hummed. "He said there are many different ways that work for different people. I'm thinking he want to court our dear Princess Allura because he asked about our courting rituals." I giggled. Fucking giggled.

"Sound like my brother alright," I whispered. "He was always the hopeless romantic." I said, reminiscing about the good parts of my past.

"So, do you think Lance is trying to court you?" Coran asked. I gave him a shocked look.

"Why would Lance try and court me? He sees me as his rival!" I said, but not loudly since I was afraid he'd hear me. Coran gave a gentle chuckle.

He placed a hand on my head. Like a father would for his daughter. He ran it gently over my hair. "It's nothing to be ashamed of if he is. I think it's very sweet," He said, with a far away look. "The last blue and red Paladins were in a relationship." If I was drinking something, I would have just had a spit-take.

What in the world is going on here? First my damn heart starts to fall for a complete idiot, now this? 

I stood and I started towards the exit. "Where are you going, Keith?" Allura asked, gaining me the attention of everyone in the room.

"I just haven't been able to sleep very well in the last couple days with what happened. I'm going to take a small nap, if that's alright," I lied, not really turning so they couldn't tell I was lying with a large blush in my face.

"Oh, right, we may have healed your body, but the Cryopods can't heal the mind," She said sadly. "Lance, will you escort him to his room, please?" 

Lance was by my side in a moment, he held out his arm and I took it. 

We walked out of the large room, our foot steps echoing as we went. He opened the door for me and led me to the stair. "You can go back if you want," I said. "I just want to be alone at the moment." He moved to stand in front of me.

"I thought that we were past the lying and hiding bullshit. We've been bonding over the last two days. Sure the first day was kind of... shitty, but we moved on," He said, folding his arms. 

I gave him a confused look. "Lying? I've never lied to you. I thought that we agreed to not tell anyone that I've been having nightmares and sleeping in your bed?" I asked. He sighed and ran a hand down his face. I've never noticed how long and narrow his fingers were. 

"Right, forgot about that," He said. "But we are teammates, and we can't form Voltron as a team if your hiding shit from us," He said. 

"I've been hiding a lot from you guys and we've functioned just fine. I hid the fact I was adopted. I've hid the fact that I lived on the street until the adoption agency found me. And a woman I believe was a family friend helped me get adopted. He'll I've even hidden he fact that I am bisexual!" I clamped a hand over my mouth. I didn't mean to say that. 

"You are?" He asked, an amused face.

I tried to go around him to avoid this situation. He caught me around the waist. "Nope, you're not running away from me," He whispered. His voice was slightly huskier.

"Let me go," I said. He spun he to face him. My chest now was pressed against his. He had a wicked smile and a strange glint to his eyes. He started to lower his head towards me and I leaned away from him slightly. My heart started to race again. I could feel his was beating fast too. His smile faded, replacedby a look of curiosity and worry.

His face got an inch from mine before a door to our left opened. We jumped away from each other and I rushed up the stairs to my room.

My face burned and my heart was still racing. I put my head in my hands and slid down my door. My two maids were already there. Tayel and Fraye gave me worried looks, but didn't say anything. They helped me out of my dress and undid my hair. They helped remove the makeup I was sure was smudged at least a little. 

They helped my into my night dress and into the soft bed. They curtsied and left without a single word spoken. 

"Holy shit," I whispered. "Was he going to kiss me?"


	13. Langsty Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Langst! That's all you need to know.

Chapter 12:

I laid in my own bed for the first time in two nights, struggling with the horrible images in my mind. I squirmed in my bed. I had a thin layer of cold sweat on my whole body. I gripped the sheets and squeezed my eyes shut. But I didn't dare go to the one person I knew would keep them at bay.

I was worried about what I'd do if I went to him.

And I wasn't permitted to leave the Castle at night.

I rolled onto my side and curled into a tight ball. My face was still tacky from the drying tears that were there. And my stomach growled with hunger since I missed dinner. 

And my legs ached from dancing.

'This couldn't possibly get worse,' I thought. 

Until I heard a soft knocking on my door. I groaned and rolled over, covering my head with the blankets, pretending to be asleep. I heard the soft hiss of the automatic door. I didn't dare move. I already had an idea of who it was. I kept my breathing even and soft. I made sure my eye lids weren't clenched and tried to keep my body relaxed.

I felt his knee slid onto the other side of the bed. 

I didn't even hear him breathing. I was not religious in the slightest, but in that tense, awkward silence, I silently prayed to who was listening for him to go away. 

I felt the shift of the bed under his weight as he crawled onto the bed farther. He pulled the blankets down just enough to reveal my head.

"Keith, you asleep?" He whispered, his lips new barely brushing my lips as he spoke. I didn't move. He sighed and pulled away. "Fine, maybe you are," He said. "You slept heavily when I was there last night. And you know, I don't know why, but last night was one of the best night sleeps that I've ever had since being in space. And it's surprising that it's been because of you," He said in a voice I've only heard my dad use when talking about my mom when he was on his death bed.

In was quiet, and humble almost. 

I swallowed quietly. I felt his hand move to my cheek from where ever it had once sat. It was just his knuckles barely grazing my cheek bone. It was like he was afraid that I'd either wake or break under his touch.

Why was he being this way towards me?

He sighed. "You know, sleeping like this, you remind me of my sister. Even if I don't see you as a sister, you remind me of her. And honestly it passes me off because I don't know when I'll see her again. Or any of my family really," I heard a hitch in his voice. I felt my chest tighten at that. He was hurting, yet he put on a mask and did his damn job. 

A job he never once signed up for. Especially at 17 fucking years old.

"I miss them," His voice cracked. In an instant, I knew he was crying. He laid down next to me, tucking me to his chest. "You have your family with you. Shiro is your only family left. Well, other than the Galra you've never met," He sniffed and tightened his arms. 

I couldn't stop the groan from escaping my throat. My face heated up. He stiffened and I prayed he didn't realize I was awake.

After a few tense moments of silence, I felt him relax into me again. He sighed, his warm breath fanning on the back of my neck. "I really miss home. I miss my mom. I miss Varadero. I used to go to Varadero Beach all the time with my family. You'd like it. There's more to do there than just swim," He whispered into my hair.

He nuzzled into my neck and was quiet for a moment. "I don't think anyone has noticed, but my insecurity gets to me sometimes. Especially when I'm really lonely. Or when you for something so amazing that I can't help but feel both jealous and awed," He was jealous of me? 

I felt wet spots form in my hair and press against my neck. He squeezed tighter and I groaned. This time I pretended to wake. I rolled towards him and opened my eyes that felt almost glued together.

"Lance?" I mumbled in a tired voice that I didn't even need to fake. His blue eyes were wide.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I'll," He paused. "I'll leave." He started to sit up but I pulled his arm down and hugged it tightly. "Keith?" He questioned. 

"Stay. Please. You're lucky you hadn't come when I was having a nightmare. It- it wasn't pretty," I admitted. He shifted to a more comfortable position and remained quiet. I curled into myself slightly and tried to fall asleep. But I couldn't. Not with both of our hearts racing in time with each others. 

"Why was the blanket over your head when I came in?" He whispered in an almost reluctant tone. I sighed and tightened my grip on Lance's arm.

"Nightmare."

He hummed and wrapped himself around me in a protective manner. "I'll kill them. Anyone who dared to touch you," He said fiercely. It was strange to hear his time go from broken and soft to clenched, angry and vengeful in a matter of moments.

"Lance, don't you go doing something I'd do, okay? You're the smart one out of the two of us, so please don't get yourself killed," I whispered. He snorted. 

"I'm not smart, that's Pidge," He said, going into the self-hate again. "And you're smarter than me, by a long shot. You just are impulsive. So it's whatever." I sat up and glared down at him at that. 

"Really? Yes, I am impulsive, but you are insecure. You can't lie to me Lance! You think that I haven't noticed the sad, far away looks you sometimes have?" I asked. He sat up at looked at me with an almost fearful look on his face. 

"We all miss home, so I know you do too. And from what Hunk's told me, you have a large family. I may not have any family other than Shiro but I still miss home. And maybe being far away hinders your ability to see your self-worth since you don't have a normal family to tell you otherwise, but for Godsake Lance, you are a valued member of this team and hell of a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for," I said in a normal volume, not caring who might hear me. Tears filled the Cuban boy sitting in front of me.

A small smile crossed his lips and the tears fell, causing streaks of wet to flow down his cheeks and drip off his chin.

"And there were go again having a bonding moment over my self-esteem," He said with a laugh and wiped his face. I grabbed his wrists with one hand, noting how thin they were, and wiping his tears with the other. 

"You know I never thought I'd turn to you of all people to help with my insecurity issues. It was usually my mamà who helped me through it."

"Well, I'm glad that I finally see past that confident front you put on," I said holding his face in my now tiny hands. He smiled and leaned into it. 

"You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you right now, Keith."


	14. Jealousy and Juniberries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riehl is jealous of Lance. Lance is jealous of Riehl. And Keith is the reason why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about making this a really long story, as I said before, but I mean really long! And I'm thinking about doing about other story that's similar to this one, but not making it a series. Possibly with Lance turning into a girl? Or a child? Or Keith turning into a child?

Chapter 13:

I sat at breakfast overthinking. I sat in a dark maroon day dress as Tayel called it. It was longer in the back than in the front. The middle was light, but not as tight as the gown I wore yesterday. The sleeves fell off my shoulders and I wore a simple gold chained necklace with a single flower on it. 

It looked almost like a tulip, but Allura explained it was a Juniberry flower. It was quite pretty but it caused Allura to have a sad, far away look.

My hair fell in soft loose waves down my back, with my bangs pinned out of my face. 

I ate with one hand, and played with the Juniberry jewel with the other. I made sure to stay as far away from Lance as I could. Today I sat in between Pidge and Shiro. Shiro wore a steel grey suit and a black tie. His hair was slicked back and his eyelashes made it look like he was wearing eyeliner. 

Pidge wore a green dress with sleeves down to her elbows. The dress fell you her knees and her hair was in its natural state but she wore the headband the Olkari gave her. It shouldn't have worked, but it did for her.

Allura and Queen A'llidea were talking animatedly about something next to Shiro. He watched Allura with great interest. He had an adoring smile aimed at her. I smiled thinking about when he'll finally grow a pair and ask her out. Not that there would be anywhere to go in space, but we could make them a nice dinner and give them space for a few hours. No pun intended.

Hunk sat next to Lance who had his confident mask put back into place. 

I felt a pang of guilt for last night.

* * *

_"I really want to kiss you right now, Keith," He whispered into my ear. I pulled away from him._

_"What!?" I asked. He came to realize what he said. He turned dark red in the dark._

_"I-Well! Um, I just-" He stammered. "S-Sorry! I shouldn't have said that, I just-" He stopped midsentence and flowed onto his side, facing away from me. I sat there in confusion, face burning._

_I covered my face and slid out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. My feet slapping against the cold, hard floor. I stayed in there for a while. I splashed cold water on my face to try and cool it. I really wished I could sleep inside Red's cockpit. I bit my hand to keep the inhuman shriek from escaping my throat._

_Embarrassment filled my whole being. I should just sneak out and sleep with Shiro. He was always good for midnight cuddled when I had nightmares. But then I'd feel guilty for leaving a probably self hating Lance by himself to sulk in the room of the guy-girl he wants to kiss but was just rejected by._

_But then again, if I stay, he might feel either worse about himself. Or he might think that I want him to make a move. Which I did, but I didn't. I grabbed at my hair and calmed my racing heart. I didn't say anything as I opened the door to the bathroom._

_I could see Lance was awake, but neither of us said anything as I walked back to my side of the bed and laid back down, turning away from him. It took me a while, but I finally fell asleep._

_That night marked the first time I dreamt of Lance._

* * *

Hours later, I was walking down the hall by myself. I didn't want to get in between Shiro's subtle attempt to flirting, which went unnoticed by the Princess.

I just wandered the Castle for a bit. I hummed softly to myself as I walked.

It was the same tune I hummed in the shower. It was familiar but I still couldn't figure out why.

I heard a laugh that interrupted my attempt to remember. I turned to see the Galitetrean guard, Riehl. He was smiling like the Cheshire cat. I rolled my eyes and continued on my path.

"Didn't I say that ladies, even those not naturally so, had to be escorted by a man?" He asked, falling into step with me. He held out his arm for me but I didn't take it this time. I just wanted to be alone.

"You did, but I think I can handle myself. I  _am_ a Paladin after all," I said. He laughed softly. His tail swung behind him, in a playful manner. He jumped in front of me with a playful manner. "Can I help you?" I said, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. 

"Nope, I'm just curious of you. We  _are_ a curious creature by nature, after all," He said, mimicking my stance. I smirked.

"Didn't you ever hear that curiosity killed the cat?" I asked, a smirk on my face.

He snorted. "That only part of the saying. The whole this is 'curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back,'" He explained. Of course he would know that phrase. 

"Look, I'm dealing with a lot of shit and would like to be left alone," I said, holding my hands up in a defensive manner. "Please understand." He tilted his head in confusion. 

He took a step forward and bent at the waist. He was now eye level with me as he studied my face. It was like he was seeing through me. His cat-like eyes flicked between mine as he continued to stare. His nose twitched as if he was sniffing me. It was starting to get creepy. 

"Does it have to do with the Blue Paladin I smell on you?" He asked. "I mean, more so than the others. The Black Paladin is the second strongest to his. Is he family, while the Blue is your lover?" He asked, with an almost jealous tone of voice. 

I scoffed. "Lance is just a teammate. And Shiro is my adopted brother," I said. Riehl's eyebrows knitted together. 

"Really?" He didn't sound jealous anymore. He looked happier. And his tail showed how much happier. It was up and slightly curled at the end.

"Yes," I answered simply. I moved to walk around him. He smiled and grabbed my hand. He turned and took off, still holding on to me. 

Now I'd have like to say that I was running great in my high heals, keeping pace with the cat boy in front of me. Instead, I stumbled and just tried to keep my footing. But he kept that fast pace as he ran down corridor after corridor.

I was huffing when we finally stopped in front of a door made from glass that was leading into a garden surrounded by the castles tall walls. It was filled with plants that were both familiar and unfamiliar. I saw a tall Willowleaf tree, roses, we either red tulips or Juniberries, and many more plants that I couldn't name but some were definitely from Earth.

"You said you wanted to be alone, but I, as a Royal Guard, need to uphold the law and escort the female guests of the queen around, so I thought we could spend some time in my favorite spot in the castle. I'll say I'm guarding you and you can think about whatever is bothering you," Riehl said with a toothy grin. 

I didn't want to be alone with him, but it looked like either spending some time in the fresh air with air total stranger, or holing myself up in my room until the night of the ball which is tomorrow.

I sighed, defeated. I needed fresh air. This beautiful cage made me feel trapped. 

He opened the glass door. And unlike the doors inside the castle, this swung inward, much like the front door to the castle. Out here the warmth of their large red sun felt nice. There were several stone benches sanded smooth and well used. There was paths with small stones in the concrete that made it feel like an old stone road from possible the medieval era.

It was beautiful out here. 

There was a small part of my brain that wanted this moment to be shared with Lance and not Riehl, but I ignored it.

I walked to the bench that was under the shade of the drooping willow branches. I sat down flattening the back of my dress to my legs so my ass didn't touch the cool stone. Riehl stood a few feet away so he seemed like he was actually guarding me instead of intently watching every move I made with great interest.

Finally I let my mind wander. The smell of the flowers filled my nostrils.

I leaned against the rough bark of the willow. I closed my eyes and thought of last night again, replaying every moment. Repeating every word spoken. Rewiping each tear shed.

I sighed. I didn't want to remember the words spoken from Lance that made the bonding moment awkward. But they kept replaying in my mind like a broken vinyl record. 

_I really want to kiss you right now, Keith._

I clenched my hands into fists, trying to will the words away from my stubborn mind.

_I really want to kiss you right now, Keith._

I shouldn't be repeating these lines to myself. He shouldn't have spoken them. I shouldn't have come out here with a stranger to see my mental breakdown.

_I really want to kiss you right now, Keith._

I stood without warning whend I heard the crunch of grass. I turned to the door to see Lance standing in the door way, shooting daggers at Riehl. 

_If looks could kill, Riehl would be 6 feet under._

Lance didn't say a word as he stepped towards me, still looking pissed. He silently grabbed my arm and dragged me back inside. I didn't even look over my shoulder to see if Riehl's reaction. I just walked behind Lance with his burning hand on my wrist.

Once we rounded the corner he stopped. He turned to face me. I could see the jealousy boiling behind his intense blue eyes. Now I understood why he represented water.

Most of the time he could be calm and collected, cool even. Other times, you better fear the storm he brings. 

He stepped towards me, backing me up against the wall. His hands went to the wall on either side of my head, caging me in.

"Lance, I-" His lips crushed mine as he finally did the one thing he's wanted to do for who knows how long. 

He kissed me.


	15. Shiro's Brotherly Wrath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro walks up to see Lance kissing Keith in a not so gentle manner. Needless to see he gets pissed and slightly over reacts.

Chapter 14:

His lips crushed mine as he did the one thing he's wanted to do for who knows how long. 

He kissed me.

It was rough, despite his lips being soft. He was pissed, and he was pouring that into his burning kiss. I tried to push him away, but I couldn't think straight. His hands moved to my hair from where they were on the wall. He tilted my head up and deepened the kiss. 

His tongue licked my lips, asking for entrance. But I kept my lips sealed. I heard a low growl emitted from him before he nipped at my bottom lip. I gasped as my eyes flew open.

His tongue invaded my open mouth before I could close it once again. He tasted every inch it, leaving nothing unexplored. I tried to back up farther but with nothing but the wall behind me, I couldn't do much. 

Lance closed the last little bit of space between us. His entire front against mine. My hands shook where they were on the wall, close to my thighs. He was unrelenting as he moved from my mouth to my neck. I felt a moan bubble up my throat.  I clamped my mouth shut as I tried to keep it in.

"Lance-" I tried to sound pissed, but it came out as a moan. It had the opposite effect of what I wanted. It spurred him on instead of stopping him. 

"I don't like him. Not one fucking bit," He growled. 

I put my hands on his chest and half-heartedly tried to push him away. He kissed and sucked his way up my neck and back to my lips. I groaned as his lips moved against mine. My hands paused, but didn't move from his chest.

"He was looking at you just sitting there like you were a piece of meat!" He said against my lips. His tone still held his tsunami of anger.

"Lance, stop!" I gasped. "I-I can't think!" I tried to push him away again. It was only because I couldn't think. And he was pissed. If it had been under a different circumstance, I'd love to be kissing him heatedly like this.

I heard footsteps as he continued to kiss me. They seemed heavy, too heavy to be a Galitetrean, Pidge or Allura. And they weren't heavy enough for Hunk's. I knew instantly that it was Shiro. 

If Lance heard him, he didn't seem to care. I heard Shiro's familiar humming as he rounded the corner. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the two of us. The noise that escaped Shiro's throat was inhuman. I watched in horror as he literally ripped Lance away from me. Shiro took my arm and led me away. 

Lance no longer looked pissed. He looked ashamed. And a little scared of Shiro.

"Oppa," I whispered. He didn't say anything as he leads me upstairs to his room. If the door was slamable, it would have shook the whole room. But the quiet hiss didn't fit the mood, and wasn't nearly enough.

"What the  _actual fuck_ was that, Otōto?" He demanded. My bottom lip quivered as tears filled my eyes. I had opened my mouth in several attempts to speak, but all words failed me. He turned and punched the wall with his Galra arm. It didn't do anything like I expected it to, but the noise caused me to jump.

"I-" I tried. But he turned away from me. 

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't go and beat the living fuck out of Lance," He said in a voice I've never heard him idea before. 

I bit my swollen lip. It still had some of the saliva from both me and Lance. 

"Oppa, I know that your pissed-" He cut me off.

"Pissed! No, I'm livid!" He said, spinning to face me again. "I could see that you were trying to push him away! And yet he continued his- his assault!" I looked away from him. I'd never seen him like this. Not Verena when he found out I was sneaking off at night to meet up with a boy from school to go make out.

He wasn't this pissed when dad died. 

He wasn't this pissed when I tried to rake on Zarkon by myself. 

"Op- Shiro, I get it, but Lance wouldn't have done  _anything_ to hurt me. He was pissed and jealous because I was being escorted by the Royal Guard Riehl. Apparently he didn't like him and well, his stupidity got the better of him," I tried to explain.

Shiro scoffed. "All the more reason for me to beat the shit out of him," He mumbled. 

I grabbed his flesh hand. "No, don't. You said to give you a reason? Here's the reason. I now know that klance feels at least similarly to how I feel about him," I said.

he leaned forward and gripped my upper arms tightly. "That's not a good enough reason!" He looked almost desperate at this point, like he was truly was looking for an excuse not to hurt a member of his team.

I sighed and pulled him in for a hug. He enveloped me in his arms. He squeezed me tightly, clearly trying to make sure I wouldn't escape him.

I patted his back in an attempt to calm him further. "Shiro, I'm fine. Lance just let his jealousy cloud his judgement. Was it stupid? Yes. Was it reckless? Yes. But is it a reason to beat the shit out of someone? Not in this situation. Not when he's your teammate. Not when your little brother cares very deeply towards him," I spoke, surprised at my maturity in this moment.

He sighed and hugged me tighter. "I still want to hurt him. But that's because I'm your older brother, no other reason. I'm supposed to protect you from this kind of situation," He said. "If you were just Keith, the Red Paladin, and teammate, I'd say go for it." He paused to pull away from me. "But you're not. You're my baby brother and I have to protect you." 

I looked up at him. "Until further notice, you are not allowed to speak with Lance unless it is absolutely necessary," He said, fire in his eyes.

"What!?" I said, horrified that he'd go this far. It was unnecessary and just plain outrageous. 

"If you have an issue with your nightmares, come to me. No one else. I am still your legal guardian until you are 18," He continued. 

Tears filled my eyes again. I'd thought we were coming to an understanding. 

"I'm doing this for your own good," He said before turning to leave. But I darted past him, an unwanted sob breaking through me as I went. I ran to my room and locked it behind me. 

That night, I slept along, still in my dress. 

* * *

The next morning, I woke up more tired that the previous night when I fell asleep crying. I groaned and dressed myself, remembering that Tayel and Fraye were locked out.  It was a maroon velvet dress with three quarter sleeves. I just touched up the makeup I still had on from yesterday, and brushed my teeth and hair.

I slide on the heels of wore the first day we were here and headed to breakfast. But as soon as I opened the door, Lance stood there with his fist raised as if he was about to knock. I looked down and brushed past him.

I tried to break his hold, but he wasn't having it. "Keith-" He whispered. 

I broke out of his hold this time with a sharp tug of my shoulder. "I'm sorry," I said as I continued on my path.

Breakfast was awkward. Shiro ignored Lance entirely. Allura seemed to understand that something happened, but didn't ask what with the young Queen in the room. 

Pidge and Hunk tried to get Lance into their conversation, but with little success. And Coran was talking to the Queen 

And I just sat there, one hand in my lap, and the other on my fork, pushing around my food. I wasn't really hungry.

"Keith," Allura said. It got the attention of everyone. "Are you alright? You look like you're going to collapse at any moment." 

I sighed and looked up. "Oh I'm just fan-fucking-tastic. I'm just riddled with nightmares every night. And I had to literally keep myself from screaming at the one I had last night," I said throwing the cloth napkin from my lap into the table and stood up.

"And it doesn't help that I went to bed crying. Isn't that right, dear brother?" I shot a glare to Shiro. He ran a hand down his face.

"Keith, perhaps this isn't the best place to do this," Coran said, trying to calm the now tense room.

"I'm sorry, but where would be a better place? Because I don't fucking know of one!" Queen A'llidea stood at my rude remark.

"Keith, dear Paladin, I'm sorry that you feel the way you do. But do not take it out on your fellow members of Voltron. If you cannot calm yourself, then I'd have to consider not making an alliance with you. I cannot have an ally that war amonst yourselves," She said, acting far more mature than her age would suggest she was.

I looked down. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But with so little sleep, I cannot think very well and it causes me to lose my temper easily," I said. 

"And Shiro, I do not know what you had done to your young sibling, but you must fix it before you attend the ball tonight," She said turning to the Black Paladin. He flushed, both from anger and embarrassment. 

"Yes, Your Majesty," He mumbled. 

She turned to Lance next. "And Blue Paladin, I believe you've been helping Keith with his nightmares?" She asked. He turned red and nodded. She smiled. "Then I suggest that you continue to do just that. With what happened to him, his treatment cannot be ceased in the middle of it because of something so petty. Understand?" She said glancing between Shiro and him. 

That's when I knew that she knew everything that happened in her castle. Meaning she knew of the kiss that Lance and I shared. I flushed, wanting to bury my head.

"Pidge, Hunk, you can continue to investigate the inner workings of the castle," She said turning to them and smiled. I didn't even bother to think about what they were doing in their free time since I was too busy having an internal crisis. 

Shiro stood suddenly. We all looked at him. "Stop looking at him like that, you fucking pig!" He yelled at Lance. Lance shrank down in his seat. He was looking absolutely terrified at Shiro's wrath. "He isn't something to ogle over! That's it! My statement stands! Until the end of the trip, I don't want to see you two interacting unless absolutely necessary!" 

"No!" Lance said shooting, knocking his chair over in the process. 

"No?" Shiro repeated, his anger boiling.

"You heard me!" Lance was pissed now. "I care for him, you can't stop what I feel! I've felt like the seventh fucking wheel since I got to space! Let me have this one thing!"

Shiro glared daggers at the shorter boy. "No, my statement stands." And with that, he walked out. 


	16. Dancing in the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith dance in the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning. Keith talks about being raped. Also mentions underage drinking.

Chapter 15:

I again holed myself up in my room since being here. I hadn't even bothered to cry. Crying was far too much work in this situation. I was too numb to cry. Shiro was being a dick and went too far with the given situation. But I could understand. 

The situation looked almost like Lance was trying to rape me. I shuttered.

I knew that Shiro didnt want that to happen to me again. It had happened when I had snuck out one time. It was to meet up with the same guy who I usually just had heated make out sessions with. But this time, I'd gotten a bit buzzed. I was still totally in control of myself.

And his friend had been at the party. Josh went to get me a cup of water to sober me for when I got home. Josh's friend, Marco, had been talking to me. Flirting with me. And next thing I know, my face was being forced into the mattress. I remember the pain in both the back of my head and my ass.

I remember all the shitty, horrible things he whispered in my ear. 

It's one of the few things that gave me nightmares. It was also the first time I saw my brother cry. It wasn't the gut-wrenching sobs that one would think. It was the silent, broken tears slowly falling down his cheeks as he looked at me laying on the hospital gurney with gauze around my head, wrists and neck.

I was drugged half out of my mind but I still remember it. But as soon as Josh showed his face. Shiro lost it. He was screaming and nearly beat the shit out of him for leaving me alone at a college party. 

I started to only date girls after that. I didn't want to relive the events with Marco. And then when I found out that Josh said that Marco could do that, I beat the shit out of him myself.

Let's just say I didn't see Josh after that. 

* * *

I heard a gentle knock on my door. 

"Keith. Are you in there?" It was Pidge's voice on the other end.

"Yeah," I said, standing up from the bed. I opened the door 

She stood there with my two maids and Allura and four other Galitetrean maids that I'm assuming are Allura's and Pidge's maids.

They all smiled at me. "Thought that after the fiasco at breakfast you'd like some girl time? Plus we need to get ready for the ball," Allura said in her soothing British accent. I smiled.

"Come on in," I said, stepping aside. The maids walked in first with three large bags on hangers. I knew instantly that they were dresses. The Princess and short Paladin followed.

"Alright, we have a some wonderfully crafted dresses for the three of you. First, we will reveal Pidge's dress since it's the simplest," One of the other's maids said, unzipping the first bag. It was emerald green and had no visible straps. It wasn't shiny except for the middle where the waist would be. 

It looked like it had tiny jewels adorning it. The breasts weren't bejeweled but the middle part have a few parts extended both up and down like points. One was pointing down towards the stomach. Directly above it, it was point to  the neck, making more of a heart shaped color.

It was pretty.

"And the Princess'," Another said. She too unzipped a dress bag. The dress inside was also strapless. It had silvery stones that went into amethyst stones to white. And this went over a black material. And the stones became fewer and farther between the lower on the dress it went.

It made me think of the pictures of the milky way galaxy. 

It would be quite fitting for an alien princess. 

Finally, Tayel smiled and opened my dress, not even bothering to announce it. It was a maroon and golf dress. It wasn't jeweled like the other two. But it was strapless like the others. It has gold leafs in points along the bottom, pointing up. Each had one circle of leaves like a laurel with some design inside that grew into the points.

The top was similar. But the entire top had the gold, leafy lace over the red. There were more of the laurel patterns one on top of the other that then led into the points at the waist. I could see that they went with a theme for all the dresses we wore during our duration of our stay.

I smiled. I honestly had gotten used to the dresses. But I still craved pants. I had wished we could have gone into town to go shopping for clothes for me.

We all started chatting about little things as the maids helped us dress. I told them about how I'd gotten turned into a girl. And Pidge told them about handing as a boy in school.

Allura told us about the balls that the Altean Monarchy had held. And that that's how King Alfor, who had been a prince at the time, had met Zarkon, also a prince. I couldn't even picture Zarkon as a young man.

"So Keith, that Blue Paladin is quite something. Ever since this morning he'd been flirting non-stop," Tayel said as she helped pin Allura's hair up. I flushed. "It never worked, but he never stayed with one girl for very long. It was as if he was trying to distract himself from something," She continued. 

"Do you know why? I mean you two seemed quite close. I have seen you sneak out of his room the first night, and him sneak into yours the second night. But you both slept alone last night?" She eyed me with something close to amusement. 

I sighed. I knew why he was acting this way. "Yeah, I'd like to hear what he meant at breakfast," Pidge said with a curious look. 

I flushed as Fraye zipped up the back of the dress answer began on my hair. She started to tie half of it up into a bunch, leaving a few tendrils of hair that she curled on either side of my face. The bottom half she curled into loose curls that she brushed to make it look like a day or two old.

But it looked nice. The bun was tied up in a gold ribbon. Instantly, I was reminded of Belle from Beauty and the Beast. 

I swallowed before answering.

"Lance kissed me yesterday," I said quietly, as if ripping off a bandaid. Pidge's eyebrows raised. Allura smiled. The maids, excluding Fraye, all ooed.

This must be big gossip to them.

"I figured it was something of the nature," Allura said with a small giggle. "Shiro would not have reacted like that otherwise. He's usually so level-headed, as any good leader is."

Pidge looked like she was still trying to process this situation. "You what?" She asked, adjusting her glasses. 

I sighed. "I kissed Lance. In the hall. And Shiro walked up and caught us. But it wasn't some normal teenage, hormone-induced make out session," I explained. "Lance was pissed because I was sitting out in the garden with this Guard named Riehl. Apparently he didn't like how Riehl was looking at me. He was jealous and let his anger and jealousy get the better of him." 

The maids all looked at each other. "Riehl is a good soldier. And he is attractive. But he's not one to get jealous over. He may not have a mate yet, but he's not one to try anything with a woman if he thinks they won't be his mate," One of the maids said. She was fixing Allura's make up. 

"He's young, sure, but still a virgin. We all are. Even the Queen. He must like you, but in our culture, we do not have sexuality encounters until we find out forever mate," She said with a sweet smile. 

"Galra have mates as we do as they are very similar to us. But they have lost their way. They pride themselves on their ability to take many lovers. Sometimes, many at one time. It's despicable. But Riehl, even if he crushes on you, he would not try anything with you," She said. 

I saw it in her eyes. She liked him. I smiled. "What's your name?" I asked. She looked up, surprised. 

"Mika," She said, "Why?" 

"Mika, why don't you come to the ball tonight, I think we can get Riehl to come if I asked. Then you two can dance and see where it goes from there?" She looked at me with wonder.

"You'd do that for me?" She asked. I nodded.

Pidge and Allura looked at me, surprised. I was letting my instincts get the better of me. And for once, I font think it could end up with someone potentially dying.

* * *

It didn't take long to find Riehl. All I had to do was walk around without an escort. He appeared next to me with a playful smile. "Glad to see that the Blue Paladin didn't harm you," He said. 

"He'd never harm me. He was just worried that I was with a stranger," I said. 

He hopped in front of me. He gave me a once over and his blue eyebrows raised. "Is this what you're wearing to the ball?" He asked. I nodded. "Wow."

I flushed. "Oh, hey, speaking if the ball, what if you came to it?" I asked. 

* * *

Riehl was smiling as he escorted me too the Ballroom. The music was soft and slow.

"Hold on, I want you to meet someone!" I said, putting my hand on his chest. I spotted Mika across the room talking to the Princess. She wore a a white and light blue dress. It was strapless and the top part was white and had flowers and jewels.

It looked like the flowers started to do fall onto the light blue material that flowed to the floor from the waist.

She had her hair up in a nice bun. 

"Cat is in the bag," I whispered. We came up with the saying before I left.

She followed me back to where I left the playful kitty. As soon as his eyes landed on her, I knew he was hooked.

She blushed a light purple color. "Hi," She breathed. He couldn't even speak for a couple moments. His mouth was slightly agape and his large eyes were opened wide.

"Hi," He said finally. I giggled to myself as I turned around to leave these two. I saw Lance talking to the queen, and he winked and did his infamous finger guns. 

It was one of his usual flirting tactics. 

I felt a pang of jealousy. "Hey," I heard Shiro say from behind me. I turned. He held out his hand. "Dance and talk?" He asked. 

I sighed and took his hand. I had to hold up a small handful of my dress. He led the dance as we slowly spun around the room. "I'm sorry. You know that I do not care if you date Lance. But the way you looked absolutely terrified was something I could not ever look even if you weren't my baby brother," He said, clearly ashamed of his actions. 

"But Lance and I talked about it and I explained why, but I wanted to leave  _that_ for you to explain," He said. 

"Still, you were a jerk to him and I. I do understand why you did it with- with what happened with Marco. But you could have been a little nicer to him at breakfast," I said. "As the leader, you need to be able to work things out with your crew in a more civil manner." 

He smiled. "See, you do have leadership skills. If anything were to happen to me, I still want you to lead this team. But I want Lance to be there every step of the way. Co-lead this team," He smiled, looking over my shoulder at the Cuban boy. I glanced and saw he was dancing with Allura. 

I also saw Riehl and Mika across the room, dancing, love-struck looks adorning both of their faces. 

I smiled. 

"Go get him, tiger," Shiro said in a low voice. The song ended and we bowed and curtsied at each other. Respectively. 

I walked to the side with the large array of food. Some was from Earth, some was from Galitetra. I looked out the window to see it was starting to rain. 

Lance told me once he missed the rain. I smiled. I looked over my shoulder to see he was no longer dancing with Allura, but was watching me. I smiled and made sure he saw it when I stepped out of the room. I saw the queen smile and nodded towards me as I closed the doors.

* * *

I had managed to find the roof and stepped outside. I wasn't soaked as I did so, but with the tiny warm drops, I knew that it would take awhile unless it started to rain harder. The pitter patter of it hitting the room was like it's own slow song.

I knew it wasn't long until Lance had opened the door and started watching me. 

"Are you coming or not?" I asked, not even looking over my shoulder. I heard the crunch of his shoes on the gravel as he walked to stand next to me.

"I'm sorry about the kiss," He said.

I sighed. "It's fine. You won't need to worry about Riehl anymore either. I think I helped him find his mate," I said.

He gave me a strange sideways glance. "It's a Galitetrean thing," I said with a shrug.

He nodded. "You look lovely, but I think you'd look better in a suit," He said. "Dresses just don't fit you with your personality," He said, imitating my shrug. 

I laughed once. "Then how would a suit fit me any better?" I asked.

He smiled. "It wouldn't. You would fit better dressed as Han Solo," I snorted. Now I was imagining him in the golden Leah bikini with the red skirt thing. And the collar and chain.

God dammit. I gave myself a SnM kink. I blushed.

"Picturing me in that sexy gold bikini?" He joked as soon as he noticed it. I pushed him and groaned. "Hey, I would look  _good_ in that shit!" He joked further. I couldn't help it. I laughed. A full, life-filled laugh. He joined in moments later. 

"Wanna dance?" He asked, his hair starting to stick to his head and his coat starting to darken with the rainwater. 

"Stop joking, Lance," I said. He grabbed my waist and gently pulled me towards him. He ran his hands up my sides and lifted my arms to wrap loosely around his neck. I blushed. He smiled at me. Not one of his overly cocky smiles. Not one of his flirtation smiles he throws around to every alien girl he finds attractive. No this was a real, genuine smile and it was beautiful. 

We slowly spun to the sound of rain droplets falling and the crunch of our feet. The warm rain started to get bigger droplets that started to soak us. But it didn't make us cold as it might have on Earth.

I smiled up at the sun-kissed boy. He leaned down until our foreheads touched. 

"I really am sorry. I should have waited to kiss you. I should have just taken you back to your room and gone on my way," He whispered. His eyes closed and I could see the rain in his long lashes.

"Well, we might not have had the best first kiss, but maybe we can have many more kisses that we can cherish," I said, closing mine as well. I felt his warm breath on my lips before he closed the distance.

His lips were just as soft as before, but the kiss was far gentler. Almost hesitant. I was glad for once for my heels. I didn't need to stand on my toes to press more fully into the kiss. I smiled into his lips as I heard and felt him moan.

He moved his hands from my hips to wrap around me. We kept swaying gently back and forth. 

"Keith?" He asked pulling away just enough for his lips to brush mine. I hummed in response. "Where do we go from here?" 


	17. Message from a Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins get a message from the galaxies most feared prince, and he had a rather unusual request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This mentions sex trafficing, sex slaves and Sendak being a dick to females. It also mentions underage sex slaves, past suicide attempts and nightmare fuel, hell raising torture mentions. Please read with caution. There may be triggers.

Chapter 16:

That night, I slept next to the one warm body that I had craved the night before but hadn't been able to see. I felt amazing. I felt a stupid smile fill my face as I laid next to him and fell into a wonderful dream.

* * *

I woke with the feeling of confusion. And the harder I tried to remember the dream, the more difficult it was to recall, until it was nothing more than a familiar set of blue eyes.

I looked down at Lance as he continued to sleep. I felt the same feeling I did the last time I did this. He looked so peaceful. He looked like a 17 year old instead of some soldier that has seen too much shit.  

I smiled, knowing that he no longer felt like some seventh wheel.

He had me, and Hunk and Pidge. And now that Shiro had cleared things up with Lance, I knew he felt better about himself.

And he did seem close with Coran. And even if she never admitted it, I knew Allura saw Lance as a friend. 

I ran my fingers through his soft hair. He didn't seem to stir from it. I brushed his hair with my fingers. They never once got caught on a knot which was somewhat surprising. But I guess with how much he cared about his hair it wasn't too far fetched that he'd hardly ever got knots in his hair.

He mubbled in his sleep and snuggled closer to me. I smiled. I slide out of bed and walked to my closet. I picked a simple dress that fell to my knees. It was a brighter red than the ones I've worn previously. It was had loose off the shoulder straps and was rumpled along the bottom. And it wasn't as title round the middle. It was tight along the collar and the top of the sleeves before they fell loosely.

It felt almost like a cotton tee shirt. I liked it. I shed the shirt of Lance's that I was wearing. I didn't want to wear the night dress the final night we were here. I mean what would they do, kick us out?

I unbuttoned the buttons of the wrinkled dress shirt and dropped it to the floor. I pulled the dress on over my head and turned to see Lance watching me with a sly smile.

"Was that show just for me?" He flirted. I walked over to the bed. I didn't know how to be sexy in a girls body but I did know how to be in a guys. I put on a smirk and placed a knee on the bed. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his face closer.

"Maybe," I said before pulling away and mocked innocence. "But then again, I could have just thought you'd be asleep longer," I said with a shrug. He looked at me with a look of shock.

I laughed at his expense, but only slightly before patting his cheek. "I actually did think you were asleep still. I just wanted to mess with you," I pecked his pouty lips before going and fixing my hair. I found a ribbon and pulled my hair up into a pony tail. It was slightly wavy due to fall asleep with it damp, but it didn't look bad once I brushed it.

"Go and get dressed, Lance. We still have a final meeting with the Queen before we leave," I said over my shoulder. He sighed and stood up. He still wore the suit pants from the night before, but no shirt. He scooped up the wrinkled garment and the discarded coat.

"You know, I still am waiting for the answer to the question from last night," He said with a final peck to my lips before slipping out of the room. I sighed.

I had honestly forgot about that.

He had wanted to know what we were. Wouldn't this make us a couple? I mean, we sleep in the same bed, we kiss, we both like each other.

I don't know if it would be considered love yet, but if it continues like this, it could turn out that way.

I needed to ask Tayel or Mika about the Galra mating patterns from before the empire. 

And I needed to check up to see if Mika and Riehl ended up happy last night. I was honestly pleased with myself for helping them meet. And I wanted to know why, in the entire time I've been here, Fraye hasn't spoke.

My maids bustled in and saw me already dressed. They gave me knowing smirks and giggled. Clearly they must have seen Lance leave my room with no shirt and rumpled pants. They probably thought we fucked each other.

"Hey girls! I have a few questions before I head to breakfast. If you don't mind," I said.

* * *

"So Mika had mentioned the Galra mating had been similar to yours yesterday. Can I get more information on that? I mean, shouldn't I know that part about me? I am somewhat Galra. But I don't know the true percentage," I said.

Tayel smiled. "Of course. Well, before the empire had come into power, before Zarkon went from a simple prince to a tyrannical Emperor, Galra had destined mates. It was mostly other Galra, but it wasn't unheard of for their mates to be of another species. Frek, Zarkon's mate was Altean," That was eyebrow raising.

" _Really?"_ I asked. Both girls nodded. Their pointed ears flicked at the same time. 

"Yeah. He even had a kid, but no one knows what happened to him. It  _was_ over 10,000 years ago that he had been born," She continued. "But as I was saying. These predestined mates were always apart of who they were. They were everything to each other. The males in particular were highly possessive and protective of their mates. Now these mates could have been any gender," She said, sitting on the edge of the freshly made bed.

I had decided to help clean up the room before I left. 

"So, they could be both male, a male and and female, or both females. Now, Galra mates that had two females were a bit strange since they weren't as possessive other each other. And male/male mates sometimes fight for dominance. And again, it's not unheard of for a mate to be a different species. The Galra, at the time, tried to respect their mates culture when that happened. And half breeds were reveared because it showed that mates loved each other no matter what gender or species. Even the Prince was reveared. Especially since he was born to both a Galra and an Altean," Tayel said. "The most powerful alliance in the galaxy at the time."

I nodded. "And this Prince, he must have been very powerful since he had Altean abilities? Such as the ability to change his features slightly?" I asked.

She nodded. "Did he have a mate?" I asked. Tayel sighed.

"No one knows. It says that he did fall in love, but we have lost the knowledge of if it was indeed his destined or not," She answered.

I nodded again. "And do the Galitetreans have predestined mates?" I asked.

"Not like the Galra, not really. It's more like seeing someone and saying, 'Oh there you are, I've been looking for you.' Where as the Galra are more, 'Mine, you're mine! And only mine,'" She said. "Plus Galitetreans can still fall in love with their mates. It's not automatic like the Galra had been," She said.

"What's changed?" I asked, fearing the answer. 

Tayel and Fraye looked scared to answer. "They- they take more than one lover sometimes. And as Mika has stated, they pride themselves on their ability to take many lovers as possible. They do not care if they hurt their mate, but that's mostly the higher ups. The lower, citizen class Galra still try and take only their mates. I even heard that Commander Sendak had taken five lovers at a time and managed to bear offspring with one of them." 

"Many young men and women from several planets have been kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder. It'sdisgusting to even think about," Tayel said, venom evident in her voice.

Fraye looked at the helm of her dress. "What's the matter, Fraye?" I asked. 

Tayel looked sad. "Fraye had been a sex slave of Sendak's. She was taken on another planet, one she was visiting. But she was liberated by a group of rebels. The Blade of Marmora saved her and bought her home. I knew that you noticed that she didn't speak. That was because Sendak damaged her vocal cords while he was using her. She is wasn't his mate, nor was she of age. He literally had her slung up on his wall to be played with as he pleased," I had never heard Tayel said once become that hate filled before.

"He'd cut into her flesh. She'd scream and scream for someone to save her, but no one came until it was too late. And after her voice was lost, they too became mostly silent. It's a miracle that she can make any notice at all," She said, taking her friends hand. My anger boiled. "And sadly that wasn't the worst part. He'd rape her everyday. Cutting her, pushing her, burning her, breaking her," She continued with angry tears in her eyes.

"He'd never stop. He'd laugh at her. Slowly dragging his claws down her flesh to see the red of her blood follow the cuts he's made. And it didn't end with her being liberated. She wasn't used to living with no one harming her. She'd cut herself, burning herself," Fraye lifted the sleeves to her maid outfits to show dark blue lines that had no fur on them. Some looked far deeper and harsher than others that were light and almost hesitant. And three were some clear burn scars that left the skin dark and uneven.

"She'd have night terrors. Still does, in fact," Tayel paused to take a shaky breath. "That's why the Queen like that you had Lance to help you. It's what helped Fraye get to where she is today. But even still, it's not enough to erase the damage done to a poor girls mind." 

Fraye was near tears. They both were. And I as well.

"She's nearly hung herself a few times, tired of living. And it wasn't until she found her mate that she realized she was fearful of any sort of sexual relation. They've tried several times, but it's always ended with her hiding in the closet or bathroom as she hyperventilated," She said.

"It's okay. I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. But just promise you, he is not doing this to anyone anymore. He's floating around in space in a Cryopod," I said. "He had tried to take the Castle of Lions and we defeated him. I punched him. I now wish I had killed him," I said with fire in my heart. I heard the resonating growl of Red in the back of my mind.

"Hey, Keith, you said you were part Galra, right?" Tayel said, clearly trying to change the subject. 

"Yeah, why?" I asked. 

"How old are you?" She asked. I was curious on where this was going. But I was glad for the topic change.

"17, almost 18, why?" 

Fraye and Tayel shared a look. "Because Galra tend to find their mates at the age 18, if they don't, they will after that age," Tayel said. I nodded. 

I hope Lance is my mate, I thought. 

_But what if Lance is trying you mate, and it's someone else?_ A small voice asked. I pushed it away. I'd cross that bridge when I get to it.

"Oh and there's one more thing-" The door opened before she could finish.

"Keith, you need to come see this right away," It was Hunk. "Its- well, it's possibly, kinda very serious," He said, fidgeting with his hands. 

"What is it?" I asked, Tayel's message momentarily forgotten. 

"Apparently it's Zarkon's son."

* * *

We all stood in the Bridge of the ship and looked to the screen. We all stood in our Paladin armor. Apparently he had send a message to us on the day we arrived, but it wasn't received. 

"About time you got your ass into view," The Galra on screen said. He had long white hair, eyes that looked like mine, but a more prominent purple color, and light purple skin. His ears looked exactly like Allura's and Coran's but just the same purple as the rest of him. He also had a slight accent similar to Allura's. 

He had a square jaw and high cheek bones. His face was perfectly symmetrical and free of blemishes. He had a thin nose and full lips. And his chin was slightly pointed. His eyebrows were clearly meticulously taken care of, not a hair out of place. And in place of the Altean face markings, two red lined much like Haggar's adorned his beautiful face.

"And now that everyone is here to discuss this matter, I'd like to make my request," He said with a sly smirk. I hated him already. He blinked and his eyes went completely yellow like a normal Galra's.

"I'd first like to apologize for my father's actions, turning the Red Paladin into a female. I do not always agree with my father's methods. And this one seemed despite. He knows that he can not win with pure strength alone. He figured that out when all the RoBeasts that Haggar has created failed to attain the lions. And again when some of his highest ranking Commanders have failed to attain them as well," He said with a off hand twirl of his wrist.

I stepped closer to Lance and glared up at the screen, my arms folded across my chest.

"Does that mean you'd change me back?" I demanded.

"Oh goodness no! Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I wouldn't have the means to use to do it. I am sorry, but I think you have to wait for that one by yourself," He said, faux sympathy written on his features. 

"Now on with my request. I'd like to have dinner with the Red Paladin to discuss some personal matters. I'd think he'd find them quite interesting. It has to do with his Galra parentage."


	18. Prince Lotor and the Curious Case of Purple Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prinice Lotor makes hisense request. And let's just say, it doesn't sit well with the Red Paladin.

Chapter 17:

After the Prince had made his request, the shouting began. I just watched the smug look that adorned his face. His eyes were still the yellow that he changed them too.

"Absolutely not!" Lance and Shiro both yelled. The others yelled in agreement. 

Lotor laughed quietly. He crossed one leg over the other and put his elbow on the arm rest next to him, and rested the side of his head against his lightly closed fist.

Hunk moved in front of me. "I don't cuss often, but I feel like I must, so fuck off!" He said. God he was such a cinnamon roll sometimes. 

Pidge grabbed my hand. "I already lost one brother to the Galra taking him! I'm not losing another! I'll kick your ass like that subcommander of Sendak's!" She yelled at the screen. 

"Calm down little girl, I just merely want to talk to him," He said looking at us with a small smile and partially lidded eyes. I felt a growl, a literal growl bubble up my chest, but when Lance grabbed my other hand and laced our fingers together, it dissipated. 

I felt my chest rubble a bit, like when Red purred in my mind, but it wasn't her in my head. I-I was purring!

Galra can purr!

"I nearly lost Keith once because of your fucked up father! I'm not losing her to an asshole kid!" He said, his gaze enough to cause anyone to freeze in their tracks. 

Prince Lotor threw his head back and laughed. It rang. It was hearty and caused his body to shake. I'll admit it, it was a nice laugh.

"Now now, didn't I just say I wanted to talk to him?" He asked, amusement in his eyes and smile. "I just want to have dinner with him and discuss what the perks are of being half Galra since there hasn't been another half Galra in many Decafeebs," He explained offhandedly. 

Shiro was shaking. I knew instantly that he had remembered something from his traumatic time as the Champion. "You! You were at every single one of my fights! You cheered for me to kill those you sent into the ring with me! So why should I listen to someone so vile! So bloodthirsty!" I hated the look in Shiro's eyes. That was the look of a caged predatory animal freshly caught from the wild.

Lotor sighed. "I cheered for you not because you were brutal in battle, but because of the techniques you used. It was beautiful to watch a man move with such grace while fighting for his life," He said, his features changed, he went from looking at Shiro to looking through us as he imagined presumably Shiro in the gladiator ring. 

I growled now. It was so animalistic as it tore through my vocal cords, rumbling through my chest.

My mouth twisted into a snarl as I got into a crouched stance.

"Leave my Oppa alone!" I snarled at the Galra prince. He looked surprised that I did that. Hell, if I wasn't so pissed, I would have been too. 

"Are you an adult yet? It's usually the equivalent to an 18 year old on Earth, yet you don't look 18?" He questioned before smirking. "This is getting  _so much more interesting,"_ He said.

I watched him like a hawk to a mouse. I wanted to kill him. 

"Well, think about what I requested! I have a empire to help run! Contact me at this frequency with your answer, Keith," The screen went dark as he ended the transmission. I growled again. 

"Keith, calm down," Shiro said, placing his hand on my tense shoulder. I relaxed slightly. Lance gave me a concerned look, as did the others. Hunk slowly walked towards me. 

"Um, guys? Is it normal for him to be slightly purple? Because he was never purple before. Oh God! He got so mad, he is literally blue in the face! Only he's purple!" He started to freak out. 

"What!?" I lifted my hands towards my face, but I stopped when I noticed my hands where spotted with purple splotches. I freaked and tried your wipe them off. "No no no no no no no no," I started chanting. 

I looked over at Lance. He saw the horror in my eyes. He walked a little way towards me and reached for me. I pulled my hands to jy chest and flinched away from him.

"Don't touch me!" I said.

Hunk was the first to reach me. He wrapped his thick arms around my shoulders. He was warm and cuddly. Tears filled my eyes. I wanted to hug him back, but my arMS were pinned between us. 

"Keith, we already knew that you were Galra. Well, part at least. But this changes nothing about how we feel about you," He said. I knew that his words were true. Hunk never judged someone by their appearance, only the gut feeling he got towards them. And his gut was never wrong. I trusted Hunk's guts as if they were my own.

I felt a small figure press against my back. Tiny arms wrapped around my middle. It was when I felt the glasses being pressed into my spin that I knew it was Pidge.

"Your like a big brother to me Keith. You being Galra changes nothing to me. We all love you," She said. "And I know that my Father and brother will too," She said. 

I felt the others join in. Lance joined last. I saw his face in a crook between Hunk's arm, Shiro's shoulder and Coran's hair. He smiled to me. I could see the concern he still had in his features. But he was trying to reassure me with my tranformation.

"My maid told me that the Galra had mating patterns. That they usually found their mates when they turned 18 or after they turned 18. That's why Lotor wanted to know my age. And I think that since I'm part Galra, the closer to my birthday it is, the more Galra I become," I said. They all pulled away to look at me. 

"I think that you don't need to worry about that at the moment. The purple faded. I think that you are part correct. And I think that you being mad activated that part of you partially," Shiro said. I looked at my hands, flipping them over and over.

No more purple. 

"Yeah, I didn't mind, I liked it," Lance said with a smile. "One of your eyes even turned partially yellow," He said placing his hand on my face. 

I leaned into his touch. Again, I started purring. He smiled as I blushed, but I didn't know how to stop it. He smirked as he started to rub my ears slightly. Only it felt higher up then normal ears.

"Your ears changed," He said with awe. I reached up and felt that he was right. My ear felt more like how the Galra's ears looked.

"I think your Galra features are tied in with your emotions," Pidge said. She pushed her glasses further up her nose. Allura smiled at me. 

"Well, whatever causes him to change, I think his Galra ears are adorable," She said. The mice that were on her shoulders scampered over to me and crawled to my shoulders. They sniffed me and do messed with my ears. The biggest one, the green one, had tried nibbling on my earlobe and quickly found that he didn't like it one bit. 

Whatever he told Allura, she found hilarious.

"Oh I believe you there!" She said, laughing.

They scampered away and back to Allura. I watched themy aa they went. They were curious creatures, that's for sure.

* * *

We decided to tell the Queen of our call from the Prince. 

When we finished telling what happened, including my slight transformation, she considered our words. Eventually, she sighed and walked to me.

"If you do wish, I can get you suppressants for that matter. I would recommend it because if you do not, you will become far more aggressive and if my suspicion is true, for more possessive of that boy," She said with a tilt of her head towards Lance. 

"And the side effects of if I do?" I asked. 

She smiled. "The downside is you will not find your mate right away. The upside is you will not turn with any strong emotion. And you won't have to worry about pheromones," She explained. 

"Pheromones?" I asked. 

She tilted her head and flicked an ear slightly. "No one told you?" She asked. "Galra release pheromones when they go into heats." 

I looked around and started laughing. 

"I'm-I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but heats?" I laughed, "I'm not an animal," I said. 

She wasn't laughing. Nor was anyone else. I saw the serious faces of everyone in the room. "Wait- you're serious!?" I asked. She nodded. She snapped her fingers and Mika walked up. She smiled at me and opened up the box she carried. In side were pills that were labeled in English. One Bottle just read Heat Surpressants and the other read Shift Surpressants. 

"The Shift Surpressants were made for those like you, there is several months worth in this one bottle, there will be many more bottles of each we will give you if you want them," She said, taking the box and closing it.

"Yes please," I said. "I don't want to deal with these heats if I'm stuck in space for God knows how long," I said. 

"I understand your concern, Dear Paladin, and I'm glad that you will not let this hinder you saving the universe that is home to all of us. So please, take these, my friend," She smiled. Then she dropped her voice and her eyes gleamed with her true youthfulness. "And I snuck some treats for you!" She looked really happy about it. "But it's a surprise for you and your mate," She said, glancing at Lance. "Whoever it may be," she added as a final thought.

"I will be Voltrons Ally. But in return I want full pertection in any dire situation," She said loudly as she backed away from me.

"That's already going to happen. This is a distress beacon, press it in any sort of emergency and we will come, if we are not already busy fighting Zarkon," Allura said, handing the Queen a small handheld device exactly like the one she gave the Balmareans and the Arusians.

"Good luck, Paladins," she said as we bowed again.

"Come on, we have much to think about back on the ship. Coran, as soon as we get to it, head to the Bridge with Allura and prepare for take off, Lance, take Keith to his room. I want a close eye to be on him at all times. Hunk, Pidge, find out about those surpressants so we can recreate them if necessary," Shiro said.

"Let's go, Paladins. We have work to do."


	19. Dinner with a Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The after effects of Lotor request and a serious debate.

Chapter 18:

Lance and I stayed in my room for God only knows how long. I laid on my bed and he sat on the floor leaning against the bed. He had his back to me, one knee up and his arm resting on it. The other leg was stretched out in front of him.

"So," He said, drawing out the O. I looked at the back of his head. His little curl was back. I smiled at it.

"Yeah?" I asked.

He cleared his throat. "Queen A'llidea said you have a mate, but won't find it with those Surpressants she gave you," He started. I tilted my head. I had taken one as soon as we stepped foot into the Castle. A half a Varga later, I already felt calmer. 

"Lance? Where are you going with this?" I asked. He sighed and turned towards me with his upper body.

"What if?" He paused. Oh God, he was going to self hate again! "What if that person you're fated to be with isn't me?" He asked. 

"I don't give a fuck about them! I care about you!" I said. I grabbed his face with both hands and looked him square in the face. "I want to be with  _you,_ not some stranger," I found myself admitting. He placed his warm, naturally sun-kissed hands over my extremely pale ones. His eyes closed and his full lips turned down slightly.

"But what if I'm keeping you from something amazing?" He asked. I growled softly and kissed him slightly forcefully. It was short and to the point.

"Get this through your thick skull, McClain! I don't want anyone else but you, got it jackass!" I said after pulling away. He looked at me and smiled.  

"Good, because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," He said grabbing ahold of my face. I smiled and brought out foreheads together. 

"Good," I said before kissing his nose.

* * *

I came out for a snack, holding Lance's hand. I didn't care who saw. Once we got to the kitchen, I saw Hunk working with the same alien food we were eating on Galitetra. The Galitetreans must have stocked us up for a good while.

And they had gotten me some regular clothes. A plain v-neck, black tee and a pair of black skinny jeans. I wore shoes that they had gotten from Earth on one of their exploration missions to our home planet. They were black high top Converse with red and yellow flames that went from the sides of the toes to the middle of the shoe. There wasn't any flames on the tongue.

"Hey Hunk!" I said. He looked up and smiled when he saw me and Lance together. 

"It's good to see you two are getting along finally," He said with a twinkle in his brown eyes. The large Samoan boy untied the apron he had around him and hung it up. 

"He's still a jackass, but since I turned into a girl, he's been getting better. Despite the first day he was an ass to me," I said, elbowing Lance's ribs lightly. He rubbed them and grumbled something about not knowing how to handle with me being a girl at that time.

I chuckled and grabbed a plate from Hunk. It smelled heavenly and looked even better. Though it didn't resemble anything on Earth, it still looked delicious. 

Lance grabbed another and sat next to me, a hand resting on my thigh.

I tried not to blush as I sat there. 

"So, how long have you two been, you know," Hunk motioned between us with two of his fingers, eyebrows raised. Lance chuckled.

"Not very long, honestly since the Ball," He answered, glancing at me and winking. I pushed the side of his head playfully.

Hunk just awed at us.

He was always a sucker for love. 

* * *

As me, Lance and Hunk were eating, Shiro, Pidge, Allura and Coran piled in.

"Ah, I see that you got one of the parting gifts of the Galitetreans," Allura said she took notice of my new outfit. I smiled.

"Yeah, I kinda wish I had gloves that fit, though," I said. I had my pair of fingerless gloves tucked inside a drawer in my room with my only other outfit I had. Lance snorted.

"What's with the fingerless gloves anyway?" He asked. 

"Helps with grip while riding a bike or hoverbike," I said with a shrug.

Shiro stepped in before anything else was said.

"Alright, I understand that this is a trying situation. We all want to know what Lotor wants to talk about with Keith," He said. "We have to treat it as if we are walking into a trap."

We all agreed. "Personally, I don't want him to go. I can't lose him again. They already hurt him, tortured him and changed who he was. I don't want to even think about what Lotor is capable of," He said.

"I think I should go. I'll bring my Bayard so I'm not unarmed. Plus I get information about my heritage and species," I said. Shiro and Lance stood.

"Hell no-!" "Absolutely not-!" They both shouted.

I looked at them. "Do not do this, it's reckless and could end up with you being captured or worse!" Shiro said, pain in his eyes.

"How else am I supposed to learn about being half Galra! He said I'm the first since him in the last 10,000 years?" I asked. Lance still looked furious, but Shiro looked almost understanding. Not quite convinced, but getting there.

"Shiro, if you could have a chance to understand your arm a bit better, despite the obvious risks involved, would you do it?" I asked. 

I turned to Lance. "If you only knew half of your parents and you had a moment to find out more about them, would you take it?" His shoulders drooped slightly. I knew that family was important to him. Far more than anyone else. 

"Please understand that I'm not just doing this because I want to have dinner with him, but because I have to understand the changes of my body. I'd kill myself before I hurt anyone of you if I can't get this under control."

Allura sighed and laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them.

"I agree that Keith needs to know about being Half Galra. And as far as it is known, Lotor is the only source of information that Keith has. I don't like it, but I think it will be good for him to know things about himself," She said.

"Then what am I waiting for?" I asked. Pidge stepped up and pulled out her laptop. 

"If you are going to do this, then I can possibly hack into his ship and we can have eyes and ears on the inside if anything goes wrong," She said as she started to type away. 

Hunk sighed. "I still don't like this, but my gut's telling me that Keith's going to be fine if he goes," He said. "So I say he should go."

Shiro still didn't look entire up to the idea. Nor did Lance, but he looked sad at the thought that I didn't know where I came from. 

I place my hand on top of his. "I'll be fine. If not, then you can kick his ass as much as you want," I said, turning this into a joke. He smiled, thankful. 

"If your sure about this Keith, then I can get the transmission to him," Allura said. I nodded.

"I'm ready to find out who I am," I said.

* * *

"I'm so glad that you agreed! I'll send a pod to retrieve you as soon as possible. I'll provide clothing for you," Lotor said, his eyes back to his violet purple. I could see his excitement in them. "See you soon, Dear Paladin!" And like that the scene was black.

What am I getting myself into now?


	20. Heat of the Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor and Keith have dinner, but with a dark twist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really a warning, but just be weary of Lotor in this chapter, I don't want to trigger anyone.

Chapter 19:

Lotor was true to his word. He sent a pod with a small Galra girl who was clearly a maid of some sort. She was polite and clearly well taken care of. She was closer to a magenta color with those fluffy bat like ears. Her all yellow eyes were kinder than the other Galra that I've met.

Including Ulaz and Thace.

She smiled kindly at me and I could see the small fangs that she had. They didn't seem as dangerous as the male Galra fangs I've seen. 

"Are you the Red Paladin?" She asked. She never stepped foot onto our ship. She stayed in her pod while it rested in the pod bay.

"Yes," I said as I stepped forward, Bayard in hand. It disappeared into its little holding chamber on my hip.

"Then follow my, and try and keep your weapon deactivated as we are in the presence of the Prince," She said as she led me into her pod. I took one last glance to my crew. Shiro looked stone faced. Hunk looked on the verge of crying.

Pidge looked sad, as if she was seeing a brother off to war. And in a sense, she was. Allura smiled encouragingly at me. And Lance looked pissed. She may have agreed to let me go, but he still didn't like it. Hell, even told me so as we were saying our goodbyes moments before the pod arrived. 

Meaning we were kissing as if our life depended on it. Privately, of course.

I looked for Coran, but the ginger Altean was no where to be seen. He might not have wanted to send off one of the few people he's practically adopted into his family.

Not that I blamed him.

Once we were in the cockpit, she led me to a seat. I buckled in and waited. We sat in silence as she started up the pod. She pressed many different buttons and flicked a couple switches. She only spoke when she said to hold on as we took off. The pod was silent as it took off into deep space.

She never give a name, nor did I ask for one. And I didn't give mine away either. 

She flew us to the large ship that was far nicer than any of the fighter fleets that we've fought so far. It was still the black and purple metal that the other ships were, but made more like a nice cruise ship instead of a battle ship.

I sat stiffly as the pod made its way silently through space to the Space Cruise Ship, just missing the top deck water park.

Once we were docked, the Galra girl led me to a room. I tried to remember the path she took.

A left after the door opened, then walk about fifteen feet before turning right, walk another thirty before stopping at the elevator.

Take said elevator up three floors and turn left as soon as it opens. Then down that corridor past ten doors that looked like guest rooms to the one I'd be staying in.

The door opened to brighter light than the rest of the ship. It was white light instead of purple.

There was a four poster bed and a armour to the right of it. To the left was a nightstand. There was also one of those nice oval full body mirrors against the wall to my right nectar to the porthole.

There was a red dress laying out on the bed. Like bright red.

"Please dress quickly and I'll do your hair and lead you to his Highness' dining area," She said. She curtsied and left. The door slide silently into place. I turned back to the dress, studying it for a moment. The material was silky and moved smoothly as I ran over it. I picked it up and held it to my body. 

I walked and stood in front of the mirror and pressed the dress more fully to my front.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I noticed the dress had no back and no sleeves. There was also a slit up the side of the dress tofrom the hip to the floor.

I hated it instantly.

I sighed and looked out at the stars through the small window.

* * *

Once half of my hair was pinned up into a loose bun, I was led to a dining room with a small rectangular table that was elegantly carved from what looked like mahogany or red wood. It was a floored above mine and was in took up a third of the entire floor. It was just this, the ball room and the kitchen.

The Ballroom, I hear, is even larger than this room. I sighed at the thought. It was ridiculous. 

He wasn't there yet, but I was told to wait as he took care of some business. What that business was I didn't even ant to think about. I didn't even know if I wanted to. I sat down and decided to wait. I made sure that my Bayard was hidden on my thigh.

It was. Good.

I was glad, though, that I didn't have to wait long for the Prince to show up. 

He came in still adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves. He looked as he did on the video. Long silvery white hair. Violet purple skin. And yellow eyes. The red lines that went down his face were gone though. 

"Ah! I was hoping to finish before you," He said with a light chuckle. As if I were his friend instead of an enemy of his father's empire.

"I'm not here to play games, just get to the point so I can go home," I said crossing my arms. He sighed, sounding quite amused at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, not knowing what he was thinking. 

"Feisty, I like it," He said as he sat down at the other end of the table. I was glad that it wasn't those ridiculously long ones that you see in movies, instead it was one that looked to be able to fit six people comfortably. 

The food was brought to us. And it was spaghetti and meatballs. I looked at it rather confused. 

"I thought that you'd be more comfortable if you ate food from your planet instead of anothers," He said as he picked up his clothes napkin and placed it in his lap.

"It's not poisoned, if that's what your worried about," He said with a small smile. I still didn't touch it. He sighed and sat down the fork and spoon he held. He stood and walked to my side. I tensed up as he bent down to pick up my fork. 

He twirled it in my spaghetti and ate it. He raised his eyebrows at me and walked back to his spot. 

"See, not poisoned," He said. He also took a drink of my drink and sat it back down. "See, Juniberry juice is quite delicious. Almost like the wine of your world," He said.

"Juniberry juice, huh?" I asked. He smiled.

"Oh yes! I had saved a few seeds for myself during my father's initial attack because I needed them to be fertile when I meet my mate," He said with a far away, dreamy look, despite the hidden horror of his words. "All Alteans need Juniberry plants to be able to continue their blood line," He continued. "I don't know how it works, but it's true. Juniberries could not survive without Alteans, and Alteans cannot survive without Juniberries."

I nodded before taking the first bite, trying not to show my discomfort of this situation.

It was delicious. The sauce had both basil and oregano, probably fresh, speckling the sause. There was onions and garlic. I am pretty sure that there was also fennel and crushed red pepper flacks in it. The noodles had soaked up the excess sauce and weren't at all over cooked. I didn't know how I felt about the Juniberry juice though.

I had yet to take a drink, and I didn't know what it could do to humans and Galra. 

"So, tell me everything just need to know so that I can go back to kicking your father's old ass," I said, after wiping the napkin on the corners on my mouth. He chuckled.

"What had the Galitetreans told you so I'm not repeating knowledge you already obtained," He said.

So I told him everything, including the mating patterns that they now currently have. I heard a low growl being emitted from him before he spoke. 

"It's true that many of the Galra of today are like that, and it's truly pitiful," He said as he used the side of his fork to cut one of the meatballs into quarters. "I do not know why Father allows this disgusting habit to be continued," He said. 

"Do you not act the very same-" His shout cut my off.

"Quiznak, no! I would never!" He said. "I may not have found my true mate, but I wouldn't force myself onto someone else's!" He said, his face revealed the truth of his words. He took a deep breathe and calmed himself. His charming smile was back and tilted his head.

"So that's the first to go when I take over my father's throne," He said. "And anyone who continues will not get imprisoned, they will get a punishment far worse."

I didn't want to think about what it was.

"Alright, then this mating process, tell me more about it," I said. "I only know the basics. The way theyes act, and that race or gender doesn't matter to Galra mates." He sighed with a smile.

"Yeah. I was hoping for the longest time that the original Blue Paladin had been my mate, but that was not the case, though I still cared for him deeply,” He said with a sad look to his eyes. He blinked and his eyes turned into the purple iris and black pupils that they normally were.

His skin slowly turned Caucasian as well. And I saw the two triangular Altean markings under his eyes that Allura and Coran had. They were a dark purple color. Honestly he was very handsome like this. More so than in his Galra form.

I still didn't feel sorry for him, despite his 'sob story.'

"You're white now," I said. He looked down at his hands and saw the change. He looked confused. 

Now, either Lotor was a  _really_ good actor/liar, or this he was genuinely confused at why his skin changed. I thought it better to treat it as him lying. It was better than to be tricked into thinking he was a better person.

"Damn it, if my father and mother find out I did this, I definitely wouldn't get the thrown for another decafeeb," He mumbled. For a second, I actually believed he feared his parents, whoever his mother is. 

I licked my lips before taking a drink of the Juniberry juice that Lotor had provided. It had a deep and rich flavor. Almost like red wine, as Lotor had said. But there was a nutty undertone. Like walnut or almond. It was really good. And it was warm as it slide down my esophagus and into my stomach, warming me from the inside out. 

"Well, you don't have to be like them, you know," I said. "You can be kind and caring to your people."

He looked back at me as I took another warming sip. But it seemed to grow in strength the more I sat there, the more I drank.

His eyes held amusement as I started to sweat in my seat. I think that the drink was doing something to me. I looked at Lotor with fear.

"What, what did you do?" I gasped as I fell out of my chair, the heat becoming to much. I felt tingly as I clawed at my throat and stomach. I watched at my hands and arms turned purple and thin, fine hair covered my body. My teeth hurt as I felt my canines grow into fangs. My ears felt strange and I knew instantly that they were turning I to those bat ears like many Galra had.

I rolled and thrashed as the heat started to burn me from the inside out. Eventually, it became so hot, I literally screamed. I heard Lotor laughed cruelly as he stepped into my view. He crouched down next to me. He brushed some of the sweat from my brow.

"Oh, I may have forgot to mention that Juniberry juice is an aphrodisiac to Half Galra. I'm unaffected because I'm half Altean," He said, leaning down to sniff my neck. He hummed and licked a strip up to my ear. "Having fun diwn there with your first heat?" He asked in what he probably thought was a seductive voice.

I groaned and tried to push him away. "N-No! G-go away!" I growled. I saw that my fingers were claws now like what Sendak and his subcommander, Haxus, had.

"Well, I'm am true to my word, I would never force myself on someone else's mate," He said. "But do you have a mate yet?" He asked. 

"Lance!" I called out, not to answer his question, but to ask for help since I hoped Pidge was still watching. 

I tried crawling away, but he just laughed and followed me. His boots made a soft pat on the hard floor with each step. I just needed to buy time as they scrambled to get their lions. I pulled out my Bayard and activated it as I continued to crawl away, clenching my teeth against the burning pain.

"Don't come any closer!" I yelled, trying to hold my sword up to point it at him. But my whole arm shook with the effort. 

The ship shook as something landed on it. I heard Red's deep resonating roar in my head as she attacked the ship to get to me. 

 _'Paladin!'_ She seemed to scream.  _'I'm coming!'_ I smiled, knowing she was doing heavy damage to Lotor's ship.

Soon after Red arrived, I felt the attacks of the other four Lions. Lotor sighed. He was clearly peeved that they were attacking. I wanted to laugh, but another sharp wave of burning pain hit me like a fucking truck.

"I hope you burn in Hell! And trust me, I'll be the one to send you there!" I swore as the doors burst open. Lance and Shiro stood there. Lance fired his rifle at Lotor and hit him straight in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He was instantly unconscious. Whether it was from the blast or hitting his head on the ground, I don't know.

Lance ran to me and still aimed his rifle at the face of Lotor. His scent hit me like a freight train. Rain and sea water. It was a heavenly scent that caused me to go crazy for it. A growl ripped through my body. 

"Mine!"


	21. Keith's Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has to deal with the Heat he was dealt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should the next chapter be a smut one or no?

Chapter 20:

"Mine!" I growled as I lunged for Lance. He yelped in surprise as we went down.

I practically sat on top of him as I pinned him to the floor by his wrists.

I bent down and sniffed the junction of his shoulder and neck. His scent was the strongest here. The smell of rain water and the brine of the ocean filled my senses becaming everything. I purred loudly as I nuzzled my face into his scent.

"Minemineminemineminemine," I chanted in a whisper. 

That's when I hard the laugh of Lotor from were he laid. He stood and pushed himself off. I growled at him as I hovered above Lance protectively. He had been faking being unconscious from the shot Lance hit him with. 

"Mine!" I growled, bearing my canines at the Galra prince. 

"Oh I know, I can see that quite clearly, but little do you know that the heat will only get worse from here for the next two weeks," He said. "Unless you two properly mate, which I didn't tell you how."

From behind him I saw Shiro light up his Galra tech arm and rush the prince. The Prince dodged the onslaught of slashes from Shiro. 

"Impressive, I knew that you were both graceful and powerful in battle, but I never thought I'd face it first hand in combat," Lotor said with a smirk. "But you don't know how well  _I_ can do in the ring." He said as he countered Shiro's assult. He was able to hold Shiro at bay.

They each got it a few good hits. Shiro slashed at Lotor's midriff and managed to cut his shirt, revealing taut abdominal muscles.

I growled and looked down at my mate. 

"Mine. So stay," I commanded as I grabbed my discarded Bayard and joined Shiro in battle against the Royal Ass.

I lunged, parried and slashed. I didn't pay attention the the types of slashes I delivered. I was more focused of protecting my mate and brother. Another blast of energy wizzed past me and hit the prince. He grunted but stayed standing. 

Another one hit his leg and he went down. I wanted to rip his throat out with my teeth, but I refrained. Shiro moved in quickly and cuffed and gagged him.

I growled at him in his face and he returned the gesture, though it was muffled by the gag. His eyes showed no remorse for his actions and the anger he held.

"I want to kill you, but not today you Royal piece of shit!" I spat and I stalked back over to my mate. I checked him head to toe for any injuries and purred when I found none. 

"Um, Keith?" His tone was filled with confusion. "Why are you still purple? I thought that Queen A'llidea gave you Surpressants for your Galra features," He said.

"Juniberry juice deactivated the Surpressants and inhabited my Galra features to come to the surface," I said and I nuzzled his neck again. His arms looped around me hesitantly. 

I grabbed him and hugged him close to my body. But I gasped in pain as the next wave of searing pain crashed on top of me. My legs gave out on me, causing me to collaspe. I grasped at Lance's pants to try and ground me so I didn't pass out from the pain.

"Hurts!" I gritted out, barely managing to speak the one word.

"Shiro?" He asked. My brother was at my side in an instant.

"I've seen this before. He's in heat; it's a part of the Galra mating process," He said as he scooped me up into his arms. 

"Get Lotor to the Castle of Lions and see what Allura wants down with him, I'll take Keith to the black lion and follow you there," He said over his shoulder at Lance. Lance nodded and helped the contained prince to a standing position. Though the Prince limped on his hurt leg, he should be fine to walk.

Now that Lance stood next to him, Lotor looked about 6'4. A lit smaller than the average Galra. He was a few inches taller than Lance. 

I panted and whimpered as Shiro walked away from Lance. If I wasn't in so much pain, I'd run to back him. I needed Lance as if he were air. 

"I know you're in pain, but we only have a bit to go, okay, then you and Lance can do... whatever mates need to do," He said with his features flushed with embarrassment. He clearly didn't want to think of me and Lance together in  _that_ way. 

"It hurts to be away from him," I whispered. "I need my mate." I felt tears prickle my eyes. Shiro smiled. 

"I know," He said. His eyes looked sad. Like he knew how it felt. It was confusing.

Did Shiro lose someone he loved?

* * *

I laid in my bed groaning as I waited for Lance with the Heat Surpressants. He also went to ask Allura if it would work after drinking Juniberry juice. I never should never had gone to talk to him. I wouldn't be laying hee in pain, looking like I just stepped out of the X-Men comics.

Shiro came to visit me. I could smell him before he even knocked. He smelled of the air of Texas. That mix of desert, farms, the gulf and forest. It was strange, but it worked. 

I managed to pull myself off the bed and stumble to the door. The heat cycle was only getting worse the longer that Lance was away. I opened the door as I leaned against the wall heavily and panted. Sweat made my hair and clothes cling to my body.

"Y-yeah?" I managed. He looked sad to see me this way. I hoped it wasn't because I looked Galra now.

"Lance is still speaking with the princess. But I brought you this," it was a pouch of the water with electrolytes in it. 

"Coran thought it might help you," Shiro said, almost nervous to be around me. I grabbed the Capri Sun looking pouch with a shaky and and punch the straw though the little premade, but sealed hole on the top.

"Thanks," I said as I took a sip. I felt the cool liquid slide down my throat and cool the heat ever so slightly. I hummed in appreciation. 

"This is still so strange, seeing you like this," Shiro admitted as I went back to my bed. I nodded. I was getting uncomfortable sitting there.

My body was covered in sweat, and I was in pain without Lance still. 

"Hey, Shiro?" I asked, peeking up at him. He hummed in acknowledgement and sat down next to me. "Remember when I first called you Oppa?" I asked. He laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. I was so pissed because that's what girls call their older brothers," He said still chuckling.

I smiled. "I was young and didn't know the difference between Oppa and Hyung," I said with a smile. But I'm sure it looked more like a grimace than a smile due to the pain of my heat.

"Here, take this too, it should help you sleep. And Hunk will bring you food later if Lance foes the bring it when he gets back with the Surpressants," Shiro said handing me a small pill bottle like the one for the Surpressants. He stood and kissed my forehead. 

"Get some rest. I'll bring any news if anything happens with Lotor," He said as he straightened. I tried to smile again as he turned to leave. The door hissed open and Shiro stepped out. 

I sighed and popped open the bottle. 

I hope these things work. I needed like 16 hours of sleep after today kicked my ass.

* * *

I was drifting in and out of sleep when Lance finally returned. He had a plate of food and the Heat Surpressants. I groaned and sat up, the pain subsiding a bit now that he was here. I smiled and leaned into his side when he sat down next to me. I purred loudly as he sat the tray of food down over my legs.

"Hey, sorry I woke you," He said, slightly weary of me. I didn't understand why. He was my mate, he should feel weary around me. He should feel safe.

"I wasn't really sleeping all that great. This damn heat is kicking my ass," I said, as I picked at my food. He nodded. 

"Well, I know that cats and dogs are in heat for like two weeks, and are like super horny," He said, his face revealed his embarrassment. I groaned. 

"So that's what I'm feeling," I said, flushing from more than just my heat.

I grabbed the bottle of Surpressants and took one, the nunvil nearly caused me to gag.

We sat there and talked while I ate and waited for the pill to kick in. It wasn't about much. He told me about his family back in Varadero. He was the middle child of five. Lived with both his parents and his father's parents. He had a few nieces and nephews. About a dozen first cousins and several second cousins.

He spoke very fondly about his family. 

"I can't wait for you to meet them. They'd love you," He said as he grabbed my hand. He rubbed gentle circles on the back with his thumb.

"Well, you already know that Shiro loves you like a brother. And u don't have any living family that I know of," I said. "But I have you and the others, so I don't mind too much anymore," I said with a happy smile. I rested my head on his shoulder and purred again.

We spoke a little more as I finished my food. 

He placed the tray on the ground when I started to literally lick the plate clean. He chuckled and kissed my cheek.

"Has the pill kicked in yet?" He asked. No, not really but it was better having him here.

Now that I was younger distracted by talking and food, I felt the heat taking over my senses once again. I shifted uncomfortably and squeezed my eyes shut.

"No," I said. "Kiss me?" I asked, looking up at him pleadingly.

He looked hesitant. I whimpered and grabbed the back of his neck. I pulled him forward and pressed our lips together. I had to take the lead in this kiss as he still hesitated. But I growled softly and kissed him a big harder.

"Please Lance! I-I need you!" I panted. 

Slowly he started kissing back. Normally, I would love to take the lead, but right now I just wanted him to kiss me and take me. Next time I'll take him, claim him and make him mine. 

I heard him groan into my lips. 

"Lance," I said. "Please, help me."


	22. The Galra Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance helps Keith with his heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING SMUT! BUT I'VE NEVER WRITTEN SMUT BEFORE!

Chapter 21:

"Lance," I said. "Please help me!" I looked at him, pleading with him with my eyes. He looked confused.

"How?" He said. 

I pulled him in for another kiss. "How do you think?" I panted, the heat getting worse by the passing second. 

His eyes widened as he caught onto my meaning. His eyes dilated and his breathing became shallow and quick. The look he was giving me was enough for my heart to speed up. This would be my first time with a man since Marco had raped me. 

But there was no fear. Only love, pleasure and hope. My mate would never hurt me. And I would never hurt him.

And if anyone tried, I'd kill them.

He adjusted himself on the small twin sized bed and we lowered until I was flat on my back. He hovered above me. I saw the lust in his brilliant blue eyes. 

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. "Because if you aren't, we can stop right now."

I didn't answer, but instead pulled his lips down to mine. I nipped his bottom lip, careful to not let my canines cut him. I ran my fingers through his short hair, trying to get some leverage, but it wasn't really long enough to pull or even grip.

"Please, Lance, just fuck me," I said, finally voicing what I truly wanted. Truly  _needed_. 

"Just checking, I didn't want to hurt you," He whispered against my lips. Then he really got into it. His lips ravished mine, barely giving me any warning to how much he actually wanted this.

"So beautiful, you know that?" He asked, pulling away from me slightly. His smile was easy and flirtatious. 

His hand went to my face. He didn't seem to mind that I still looked Galra. My eyes still the yellow that they all had.

"You do not mind me looking like this?" I asked as his hand gently grazed my cheek.

He chuckled and kissed my cheek, my eyelids, my lips. "Not in the slightlest. You look amazing no matter what. I liked you back in the Garrison, I liked you when you first turned into a girl, and I like you now," He said. 

I smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

"And you're not like other Galra. You may be hot headed and jump into a situation sword blazing, but your fiercely loyal and incredibly smart," He said as he ran his fingers up and down my sides. His fingers slid up my shirt and rested on my hips.

I hummed as he praised me. 

"Are you just going to sit there and praise me? Or are you going to  _do_ anything?" I asked with half lidded eyes.

He chuckled and slid my shirt up, exposing my purple stomach. 

"Taking my time to appreciate and admire you, Keith," He said, his voice slightly huskier than normal.

He bent down and kissed every inch of exposed stomach. "Your fur is very soft, you know," He nuzzled my stomach. His eyes glanced up at me, as if asking my permission. I nodded and he unbuttoned my jeans.

He started to pull them off and I lifted my hips up to allow him to pull them off easier. He left me in my underwear but pulled my pants off of my legs and dropped them in the floor. Even with my pants off now, the heat was still too much.

I started panting again and he sat up and pulled off his shirt. Though he looked lanky and not very muscular, he was actually never nicely toned. He definitely had a swimmers body. I reached up one of my hands and placed it on his chest. It was smooth and the skin was soft over the hard muscles.

I glanced down for a second and saw that his pants had a tent starting to form.

"Lance," I whispered as I looked up at him. "Can I try something?" I asked, glancing back down at his crotch. He sucked in a breath and slowly nodded.

I licked my lips and slowly sat up and undid his pants.

It wasn't the first time I had giving a guy a a blow job, but it's been a while since the last time that I was slightly nervous.

Once I got his pants and boxers down, I came face to face with his dick. It was half hard and was just as tan as the rest of him. I gently grabbed it and pumped it a few times to get the feeling of it. 

It wasn't to big, but it certainly wasn't small. It was purportional to the rest of him. 

I felt him grow harder in my hand before I lightly licked the tip. One of his hands went into my hair and gripped it, but didn't pull me away or push me towards his length. 

I took the tip into my mouth and gently sucked. He started panting and I felt him start to temble. I felt the weight of him on my tongue.

I could tell he was using all of his will power to not thrust into my throat. I swirled my tongue around his circumference before dipping my head lower, but didn't take his entire length quite yet.

I started bobbing my head, taking more and more of him before my nose started to brush against his dark pubic hair. He started to moan my name and I looked up to see his head was thrown back and his mouth and eyes were wide open. 

I hummed around him and he jerked as he felt it. I wanted to smirk, but with his cock in my mouth, I couldn't. I could taste the pre-cum on my tongue. It was salty and slightly unpleasant, but that didn't stop me from pleasing my mate.

"Ah! Ah!" Lance started to pant. "Fuck! Keith, so good!" He spoke in sentences that would fit in a porn.

His hand tightened in my hair. "Fuck, I'm going to come!" He said as he pulled me away off him with an audible pop.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Didn't want- to come- in your mouth," He said between pants. I laughed quietly. He moved his hands to my shoulders and pushed me back down on the bed. 

I looked up at the Cuban boy above me and I saw how lust blown his eyes really were. "You are still wearing too many clothes," He said seductively. I purred loudly as he pushed my shirt up and over my head.

He bit his lip and raised his perfect eyebrow when he saw I wasn't wearing a bra. 

"Why would I force myself to wear one of those damn tnings? I can barely take it off of someone else, why would I want to struggle putting one on?" I joked as his hands rested on my hips again.

He smirked but didn't respond.

"What are you-?" My words cut off into a gasp as he placed his lips over my right nipple and started to suck. "Ah! Ah!" I panted as I looked up at the ceiling over my bed.

His left hand went to my other breast and thwarted to massage it. My back arched off the bed and I felt moisture pool between my legs.

Sex as a girl was so different. There was the absence of the tightness in my underwear from an erection, and instead was just a dull throb and moisture. And I knew my nipple were sensitive before, but it seemed to triple in sensitivity from being a girl. 

Lance used his teeth to roll the hard bud of my nipple and rolled it. He tugged it back and released it, watching as it snapped back into place, slightly elongated. He blew on the wet bud before giving the other the same treatment.

Once he was done ravishing my chest, he started to kiss down my chest. He paid close attention to my navel before looking up and winking at me. He pulled my underwear down with his teeth. He tossed the garment off the bed and looked down at my naked form. 

My purple body laid out in full display for him. And next didn't seem to mind that I was slightly furry. He kissed me before moving on to my neck. I tilted my head to give him more accessibility. I knew that the marks he left, if any, wouldn't be visible.

He made his way up to my ear that was now higher up on my head than in my normal form and nip at it. 

"You still sure about this? Because if you want, I can stop now. But if you say to continue, I won't stop until you come at least twice," He whispered.

"You stop again, and you won't be getting laid for a  _long_ time," I threatened. He chuckled and nipped my ear again.

"That's all I needed to hear," He said. I felt on of his hands slid down my thigh and then back up. I spread my legs slightly and moaned as his hands went to my vagina. He didn't do anything yet, but just rested there.

"I'm going you make you come with just my hand and mouth first and then with my cock, okay?" He said. I moaned.

"Then get on with it!" I nearly begged.

His fingers spread me open and he slowly rubbed me with his middle finger. It was excruciatingly slow. He went back to kissing my neck and slowly moved his fingers faster. I moaned and moaned. 

He moved off of me and sat up. He used both hands, one to spread me open and the other to pleasure me. 

I felt one of his fingers slip inside me. It didn't hurt and felt slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't bad, but it just felt funny. Until he crooked his finger and started rubbing a spot that felt like heaven.

"Most guys can't find a girls g-spot because they don't know where it is, but once a guy knows, they never forget," He said.

The heat slowly receded but not enough, this pleasure wasn't enough. 

I needed more. 

"Lance! Please! Faster!" I managed to get out. He smirked and pulled his finger out. But before I could complain, his mouth replaced his hand. I nearly screamed as pleasure shot up my spine.

"Fuck! Lance!" I gasped. He licked me up and down, sucked on my clit and flicked his tongue perfectly. He knew what he was doing, that's for damn sure. And he knew exactly how to get me worked up and into a moaning pile of mush.

"You taste divine," He said with lust mixing in his words. He licked me from bottom to top before latching onto my clit again. He sucked. And after a while adding his hand back into the equation. It slipped back inside me and I covered my mouth to keep the moan from escaping. 

I could feel the orgsams building in my gut. It pooled as Lance's finger and tongue continued to ravish me. 

A second finger was added and I bit my lip to try and stop the noises I was making.

Lance lifted his head slightly.

"Don't hide your beautiful sound from me," He said before going back to licking me. I uncovered my mouth and gripped the bed sheets.

I felt Lance smirk against me and slid his tongue in next to his fingers. It felt strange still, but it was a good strange. A very good strange. 

I teetered on the edge of release and suddenly, with a crook of a finger, I was coming hard. I could feel the pleasure of the dopamine being released into my blood stream. It started at the very top of my head and slowly made its way down to my arms and fingers, my chest and stomach, my legs and toes, causing my body to tense up and my toes to curl.

I arched of the bed and cried out due to the intensity of my orgasm.

And even after I came, Lance still continued to lick and suck me. It was becoming too much, too intense. I whimpered and tried to push his head away, but he just grabbed my hands and pinned them to the bed.

I squirmed under his touch and came again shortly after. It was just as intense, if not more, as the first.

"Lance!" I said, before he finally released me. I laid there and panted, trying to catch my breath.

I looked at him as he sat up. His cock looked ready to burst by a simple touch. 

"Do-do you have anything? A condom or birth control?" I asked. 

He reached down for his pants. "Damn no," He said. "Oh wait, what's this?" He said holding up a silver little single pack pill and a slip of paper. Lance looked at the paper and started laughing. 

"It's from Allura, says that it's to 'make sure you don't conceive a child,'" He quoted as he handed me the pill. I took it quickly before we continued.

Lance quickly went back to kissing me. His lips tasted funny, but I didn't push him away. I didn't mind tasting myself on him. He probably tasted himself on my after I gave him a blow job.

"Keith, this might hurt a bit, so don't be surprised, okay?" He said.

"I don't care," I said. I looked into his lust filled blue eyes as he lined himself up. I could feel his cock head as it started to enter me. I could feel myself stretching to accommodate him. He eased in slowly to try and keep the pain to a minimum. And it did hurt a little. I groaned as he pushed in further.

Once he was fully seated he stopped. He let me get used to him being inside my. I panted. Finally,  _finally,_ this was enough. Him being in me was what I needed. It's what this heat needed to finally be satisfied. 

"Move," I whimpered beneath him. And he did. Slowly so I could get used to it. It was far too slow for my liking. 

I needed more of him. All of him really. I looked at his long, beautiful neck. I wanted to bite the junction of his neck and shoulder, where his scent was just pouring off of him in the most pleasant of waves.

He sped up his thrust and I moaned, throwing my arms around his neck, burying my face into it. I wanted to sink my canines into his soft flesh and just  _claim him._

So I did.

I heard him groan though the pain. But I didn't release him. He sped up further and I knew he was just as close to the edge as me. And yet I still didn't let go to tell him.

I needed to keep this tight hold if him until we both fell off the edge of release together.

"Keith!" He groaned. His thrusts became less rhythmic and I knew he was getting close. And I still was bitting his neck.

"Keith I'm going to-" His works cut off as he came. I came simultaneously with him. I felt the warmth of his come inside me as he milked us though the best orgasm probably either of us have had.

After we both came down from our highs, I released my hold on his neck and licked the wound clean of the little bit of blood. It started to turn purple around the puncture points, but those seemed to be quickly healing.

He pulled out of me and I shuttered at the over stimulation it caused.

He rolled to lay next to me as we both caught our breaths.

"That was-," He said.

"Amazing," I finished. He smiled a stupid, silly, lopsided grin at me.

"Yeah," He said, pecking my lips. He pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me.

I could smell his unique scent, sweat and the lingering scent of heated sex. 

"Why don't we get some sleep and then I'll run a bath for you?" Lance suggested. I laughed and curled into his chest, purring at the thought.

"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe a round two? Then sleep?" He laughed.

"Later, for now, just sleep," He said as he pulled the covers over us. "Good night Keith."

"Good night, my mate." And like that we fell asleep right in each others arms.


	23. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Morning after Keith and Lance's first time.

Chapter 22:

I woke up the next morning to soft breathing and the smell of rain, sea water and residual sex. I smiled as I smelt my mate. I turned to look at Lance and saw that the purple mark where I bit him was still there and hadn't faded.

Instantly, the Galra part of my brain supplied the word _'mark'._ I marked him.

We were bound.

I claimed him.

I smirked, knowing that any Galra that saw him would know that he is mine. 

I reached out and gently ran my fingers over the discolored skin of my mark. Lance shivered and held me tighter. 

We were still naked from last nights... activities. And when I looked down at myself, I was no longer purple. I must have shifted back sometime during the night. Or what was the equivalent of night out in the void of space.

My heat was still there, but it was mostly dormant. I knew that it would come back later but for now it had calmed enough for me to sit up and shake Lance awake.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. 

"Morning," I said with a smile. He sat up and looked at me.

He sat there confused for a moment before his eyes widened and his face flushed. And I saw a goofy I-just-got-laid smile form on his lips.

"Hey, you're not purple anymore," He said. 

"Yeah must have happened sometime during the night," I said. 

He nodded.

"Want me to go run a bath for you before we go to breakfast?" He asked. I smiled and nodded eagerly. 

He kissed my forehead and crawled out of bed and went to the communial bathroom. "I'll very right back for you," He said tossing his shirt to me before sliding on his jeans.

No underwear or anything.

His mark was on full display as he left and I felt proud that anyone who saw him would know what had taken place last night. 

* * *

After Lance had come back to carry me to the bathroom, I sat in the tub surrounded by bubbled. Lance sat in the tub behind me, massaging the shampoo into my hair. The warm water massaged my sore muscles and felt nice as I was rather sore down south.

I purred as his fingers moved gently and slowly over my scalp and through my hair. It felt nice sitting against his chest. I smiled and had my head tilt back slightly so the soap didn't get in my eyes.

"I love that you can purr. It tells me what your feeling even if you can't express it yourself," Lance said as he grabbed the cup off the side of the tub and filled it with warm water. He tilted my head back further and started to rinse my hair using cupful after cupful of water. 

"Really?" I inquired playfully.

He chuckled before continuing to get the last of the soap out of my hair. 

We sat there until our fingers became pruny and the water started to go cold. By then, most of the bubbles went away. Lance helped me stand and rinsed me off. He handed me a towel to dry off and then a red robe much like his blue one. 

When we went back to my room, I could still smell the faint hint of sex. I guess my senses were still just as sharp in my human form now as they were in my Galra form. 

Lance helped me dress then got dressed himself. I couldn't help but admire the muscles of his back. There was a word for the way he was.

 _What is it?_ I ask myself.

I know that it has a Swedish word in it.

Smyg-something.

Smygbuff? No not the word, but close.

Smygfit? Yes! That's it! Lance is a Smygfit! It's literally a sneaky buff! Smyg is the Swedish word for sneak and fit can speak for itself.

He was lanky with clothes on, but give him tight fitting clothes, or no clothes, and you can see his swimmers body. Hell, he looks like he just stepped out of _Free!_ the anime.

I snickered but when Lance asked, I couldn't bring myself to tell him.

* * *

When we finally made it to breakfast, Pidge smirked knowingly. Shiro had several different emotions skittering across his features. Hunk looked uncomfortable and Allura and Coran looked confused.

Until they saw the mark.

"Congratulations!" Allura said. "I didn't know you two were mates!" Coran looked proud.

"Ugh, I didn't need to know that my best friend slept with a guy-turned-girl," Hunk said as he tried to focus on his food. It resembled bacon, eggs, and pancakes, but they were the wrong colors, the wrong smells. 

"Soo, what are you two going to do when Keith turns back into a boy?" Pidge asked with a snicker.

I smirked. "It's obvious, I top his ass," I said as I took a bite of the purple space bacon. But as I said this, Lance had taken a drink which he started to choke on.

 _Just like he will when I get my dick back,_ A small, kinky voice said in the back of my mind. I put that thought to the side and tried not to think about how pretty Lance would look with my cock in his mouth.

I ate in silence as Lance sat red faced from both choking and embarrassment. I felt kind of smug that I could get the teams biggest flirt, and possibly the kinkiest that we know of, to be embarrassed over sex.

He was probably used to topping (a thought that I despised). But when I get my male body back, you better believe I'll be the top. At least most of the time. 

"So, has anything happened with Lotor?" I asked, to changed the subject away from our sex life.

Shiro sighed, clearly thankful for the topic change. As did Lance.

"He was moved to a room in which we could use as an interrogation room. He's handcuffed and given a mattress, a lamp, food and water. We don't want to be cruel, but we do need him conscious," He said.

I nodded. "Good. I'd still like to ask him some questions. Like how the mating process and marking works," I said reaching up and grazing Lance's neck, right over the mark. He shivered at the light touch and turned brighter red. 

I smirked. He probably has a boner now.

"You can later, but I'd wait until you know for sure that you have your heat under control. We don't need a unmated male Galra to go into a rut around you," Allura said.

Shiro nodded. "I've seen what happens when a male Galra goes into a rut. It's different fro, when they go into a heat. A lot more dangerous," He said. "I nearly got taken by a subcommander when he was in a rut." Shiro shivered at the memory.

I let out a low growl. It rumbles deep in my chest and wasn't aimed at anyone but that subcommander that Shiro was talking about.

"Keith, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about that anymore. Some one saw what they were doing and stopped them. But they threw them into the rink with me to deal with as their punishment," He said. "I had to kill them." 

"Good. Now I'm going to try taking a Surpressant so that I can talk to our Royal Ass,  Prince Lotor," I said. "I have a bone to pick with him."


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue:

"We cannot seem to get into contact with Lotor, sire," Thace said to Zarkon as he knelt before him. 

"Then try again, I will not lose my only child to Voltron," He boomed. Thace clenched his hand, trying to not lose his cool. He nearly lost it when they brought Keith in to experiment on. His own son.

How would Zarkon feel if he knew? He broke the law. He bred with someone who wasn't Galra. But she was his mate. He knew it. He could tell the first time he had seen her.

She was the blue paladin, but she never got off the planet she resided on. She wasn't even scared when Thace crash landed on her property in the middle of the desert. She had beautiful brown eyes and blemish free, pale skin.

Her name was Melanie Kogane. He called her Mel for short like she had asked him to.

"Yes sir, I'll get my Subcommander on it straight away," He said as he stood and looked at Zarkon. "Vrepit Sa," He said before turning and walking out. He needed to get a message out to Kolivan. And to Rolo and Nyma. 

And he had to do it fast. He couldn't risk getting caught. He already got Prorok killed and turned into a RoBeast that Ulaz ended sacrificing himself to kill. 

"Subcommander Antok, see if you can get ahold of Lotor again," He said as he passed his fellow spy from the Blade of Marmora. Antok nodded and went to send out the signal to Lotor again. Thace sighed as he ran a hand down his face. This was becoming far to difficult for just him to handle. He needed his mate. 

* * *

"So you want us to trail the one group of teenagers that hate us?" Rolo asked as he took off his aviators cap and ran a hand through his white hair. I could see Beezer and Nyma behind him. 

"Yes, my son is among them," Thace told him. "His name is Keith." Nyma perked up at the name.

"Seriously. He's the one who left us stranded after practically destroying our ship! Kolivan is the one who finally came to save us!" She said as she came to the front of their ship to be in the video more fully. 

"Sounds like him. He's half Galra," He explained. 

Nyma snorted. "I knew I smelled it on him. But Rolo said that I was paranoid," She said, straightening and crossing her arms. 

"Just follow them and stay off their ships radar, I do not need more conflict. And if you do get caught, you know what to do," Thace said before cutting off the transmission. 

Next he got into contact with Kolivan through a hidden transmission feed that only the Marmora members knew about and used. He only had to wait a sorry while before Kolivan answered. Kolivan looked tired and stressed. 

"Thace, what do you want?" He asked. 

"I need you to keep an eye out for these names and ships that I'm sending to you now," He said as he sent Kolivan the file that he had compiled. 

"Thank you Thace. I shall let the others know about this immediately. Stay safe out there and try and protect your son," Kolivan said before ending the transmission.

Thace sighed and ran a hand down his face. Ever since he was appointed a commander, it had gotten both harder and easier to contact Kolivan and his spy network web. He pulled the picture out of him, Keith and Mel.

He smiled at it.

He was smiling at her while she smiled at the camera. Keith had not yet been old enough to even sit up on his own. His Purple eyes shone though with wonder.

"Please be okay, Keith. And Mel. I hope that this heaven of yours exists because I'd like to see it with you eventually," He said before kissing the picture and putting back into his pocket.

He had a reason for his participation in the Blade of Marmora. And they were the reason. They would always be his reason for fighting.


End file.
